A Short Discourse – Dan Norcini SS
In the second book of Samuel, the seventh chapter, a promise of God to David is recorded. The key part of that promise is as follows:
“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…and your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam 7:12-13,16)
Two times in this marvelous promise to David is a pledge from God contained to “establish the throne of David forever.”
It is this throne I wish to dwell on in this paper.
To begin, let us start with what the throne was back in the day in which God made this promise to David.
As you recall, Israel had angered the Most High when they clamored after an earthly king like the rest of the nations around them. Prior to that epochal period, God Himself was the King of Israel and ruled in the midst of the people from within the Holy of Holies, the tent that was located at the exact center of the camp surrounded by all the tribes.
Within that Holy of Holies was the ark of the covenant, with its two cherubim overlooking the lid upon that holy vessel, also known as the mercy seat. There, the shekinah glory shone forth, although it was hidden from the sight of all but Moses, and Aaron, once a year on the Day of Atonement. It was from this place that the Lord ruled over the nation of Israel and it was here that was considered the place of His royal throne.
“Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so He spoke to him.” (Numbers 7:89)
“Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, Thou who dost lead Joseph like a flock; Thou who art enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!” ( Psalm 80:1)
“The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake.” (Psalm 99:1)
Nothing of this great privilege mattered to this carnal seed of Abraham. The high honor of having the glory of the Lord in their midst with their King none other than the Creator of heaven and earth, was utterly lost on this wretched people who hankered after someone that they could see with their own eyes and would go forth to lead them to victory over all their earthly enemies.
As the Lord said to Samuel after the peoples’ murmuring for a human king:
“…Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.” (1 Sam 8:7)
These same people then chose their king based on human standards of power and strength; they chose Saul who stood head and shoulders above his fellow countrymen. The scriptures make it quite clear how abysmal was that choice and the grief that his reign brought upon the nation.
After Saul’s disobedience in the matter of the Amalekites, God informs the prophet Samuel that He has rejected Saul, the peoples’ choice, and instead will choose a man to be king over them, a man after His own heart. Enter David.
Skipping over the trials and difficulties that young David faced at the hands of the envy-stricken Saul, who hunted him throughout the land of Israel, we watch him eventually become king in the land after the death of Saul and Jonathan.
Shortly after being anointed king by the elders of Israel, David went to Jerusalem to capture a fortress there on Mt. Zion, which was in the hands of the Jebusites. That fortress became his stronghold and is the place where most scholars believe he built his royal palace. (2 Sam 5:7, 11-12)
It is from there that David exercised his rule over the nation of Israel. Thus Zion became synonymous as the place from where the King of Israel will rule and where his throne was located. We will see this later in some of the Psalms that we will reference.
We should pause a bit here and note something of importance.
The throne of David was also known as the throne of the Lord. This is an important detail to take note of.
“… then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of his father David, and he prospered and all Israel obeyed him.” (1 Chron 29:23)
The reason for this nomenclature is that the king was always considered to be a sort of vice-regent for God; an earthly representative of the true King of the nation, namely Jehovah. While a man occupied that earthly throne, it was understood that he was to be guided in his all decisions and policies by the law of God.
This was commanded of the king by the law of Moses.
“When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it; and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me.’ You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman… Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left; in order that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.” (Deut 17:14, 15, 18-20)
Thus, his rule was considered to be the rule of God Himself. At least that was the intention! Sadly, fallen man will always disappoint and will always revert to his innate sinful tendencies apart from the grace of God.
This now brings us to the heart of this paper and back to the text with which we opened this paper.
“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…and your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam 7:12-13,16)
This was the promise that kept many in Israel comforted during their times of distress. This “Son of David” as he became known, would be none other than their Messiah, the One destined to lead them to greatness once again.
Time and time again, we see the people of Israel sin grievously against the Lord and incur His wrath in the form of the curses of the covenant (Deut 28) but we also see the Lord making mention of this promise as the reason why He did not utterly blot them out.
“Jehoram…walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did (for Ahab’s daughter was his wife), and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.” (2 Chron 21:5-7)
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the Lord, ‘Do justice and righteousness… For if you will indeed perform these this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself, and his servants and his people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that this house will become a desolation.” (Jer 22: 1-5)
Notice carefully the last verse in this quotation. A condition was attached to the continuation of this covenant with David. Eventually, the EARTHLY THRONE of David fell vacant on account of the disobedience of the descendants of David who sat on that throne. After the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar and the subsequent exile of the nation into captivity for 70 years, the line of kings descending from David was no more.
Some might want to say that Nehemiah or even Zerubbabel were continuations of the promise made to David but that is not the case. Nehemiah was merely the provincial governor of Judah under the Persian monarchs, not their king. Also, we have no conclusive link to David anywhere in his genealogy.
Zerubbabel on the other hand is a descendant of David (1 Chron 3:19) but we have no evidence that he was regarded as a king over Israel after the captivity. True, there are passages in both Haggai (2) and Zechariah (4) which specifically make mention of Zerubbabel but there is nothing contained in those passages which we can point to as stating categorically that he inherited the throne of his father David or was actually viewed as anything other than the governor of that province of the then-Persian empire.
After the death of the Greek, Alexander the Great, who conquered the Persian empire, the land of Israel was subjected to either the rule of the Ptolemies of Egypt or the Seleucids. It was not until the revolt led by the Maccabees that the yoke of the latter was finally cast off from the land. That led to the inception of the Hasmonean dynasty but note, there is no connection here between those descendants of Mattathias and the Davidic monarchy. If anything, the office of the high priest became more important than that of any so-called king.
When the Romans under Pompey conquered the land of Palestine, the Hasmonean dynasty came to an end as Herod the Great was installed as the vassal king. Herod was not even Jewish but was instead from Idumaea, formerly known as Edom.
By the time John the Baptist comes onto the scene, there is no king of David’s lineage ruling over the nation of Israel. Thus, it would seem the promise of God to David has been invalidated, something which is seemingly not possible. The Psalmist laments this in Psalm 89.
The Psalm opens with a marvelous expression of the covenant that God made with David long ago.
“I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; to all generations I will make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth. For I have said, ‘Lovingkindness will be built up forever, in the heavens Thou wilt establish Thy faithfulness.’ I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.” (Psalm 89:1-4)
He goes on further in this Psalm to essentially repeat this great promise:
“I have found David, My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. The enemy will not deceive him, nor the sons of wickedness afflict him. But I shall crush his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him. And my faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, and in My name his horn will be exalted. I shall also set his hand on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers. He will cry to Me, ‘Thou art my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ I also shall make him My first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth. My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, and My covenant shall be confirmed to him. So I will establish his descendants (seed) forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.” (Psalm 89:20-29)
Then the Psalmist interjects a provision of this covenant:
“If his sons forsake My law, and do not walk in My judgments, if they violate My statutes, and do not keep My commandments, then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.” (Psalm 89:30-33)
Once again however the everlasting nature of this covenant is recalled:
“My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants (seed) shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful.” (Psalm 89:34-37).
Here we see God actually swearing by His own holiness of the everlasting nature of this covenant promise to David. There can be no higher confirmation!
Yet the Psalmist is in despair, in confusion, in the depth of uncertainty, as he surveys the current low condition of the nation of Israel and particularly the apparent lack of a descendant of David anywhere near a throne.
“But Thou hast cast off and rejected, Thou hast been full of wrath against Thine anointed. Thou hast spurned the covenant of Thy servant; Thou has profaned his crown in the dust. Thou hast broken down all his walls; Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin. All who pass along the way plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors. Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries; Thou hast made all his enemies rejoice. Thou dost also turn back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him stand in battle. Thou hast made his splendor to cease, and CAST HIS THRONE TO THE GROUND. Thou hast shortened the days of his youth; Thou hast covered him with shame.” (Psalm 89:38-35)
You can further feel the agony of this man of God where he pleads with the Holy One of Israel: “Where are Thy former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, which Thou didst swear to David in Thy faithfulness?” (Psalm 89:49)
It is evident that this Psalm must have been written sometime after the conquest of the land of Judah by Babylon. Perhaps it was even during the long days of Persian rule? Of that we are not sure, but one thing is sure, the Psalmist is lamenting the fact that it appears that the everlasting nature of the covenant promise to David that his throne would endure forever has failed, in spite of the oath of the Most High. The godly psalmist is struggling to understand what is taking place. “What has happened to your faithfulness O Lord?” seems to be the heartfelt cry of this man of God.
This is where we get the first glimpse of the MANNER in which the LORD would actually make good on His promise to David.
Look carefully at the first part of this Psalm once more: “I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever; to all generations I will make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth. For I have said, ‘Lovingkindness will be built up FOREVER; IN THE HEAVENS Thou wilt establish Thy faithfulness.” (Psalm 89:1-2)
Do not miss this as it is essential to understanding the nature of that wondrous promise made to David. Notice what the verse DOES NOT say:
“In the earth Thou wilt establish Thy faithfulness”
Or
“In the land of Israel Thou wilt establish Thy faithfulness.”
This is no small matter that we are speaking of here. It goes to the very heart of the nature of the fulfillment of this promise to David. Remember, God CANNOT LIE; If He has promised something that will endure forever, then it MUST endure forever or else He breaks His promise or fails to deliver on His promise. Thus His very faithfulness is called into question. Either are unthinkable to the One who knows and loves God.
Now, it is a matter of fact that the earthly throne of David has ceased. It had ceased after the conquest of Judah as we already detailed above. At this point, it is impossible to even determine any sort of possible replacement of David’s seed since there no longer exist any genealogical records of the nation of Israel. All of those were destroyed in the Roman destruction of the nation, its temple, etc in the events which culminated in 70AD.
If the promise of the throne to endure forever is to indeed be forever, it is evident that THIS THRONE does not exist on the earth in any form. The earthly throne of David and his seed is long gone. Where then does this ETERNAL THRONE exist? The psalmist answers that question – IN THE HEAVENS. That’s where!
Now recall what we have previously established. The throne of David is also referred to as the throne of the Lord. The reason we have already stated – the one who sits on that throne, is the vice-regent of Almighty God Himself.
God cannot break His promise or He becomes unfaithful. This matchless faithfulness of God to fulfill every single one of His promises is confirmed by having an eternal throne IN THE HEAVENS upon which sits the seed of David. Now who might that be?
The answer is provided by none other than the angel Gabriel in his declaration to Mary that she would be the mother of the promised Messiah.
“Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.” (Luke 1: 31-33).
What is so thrilling about this announcement and the message it contained about the One who would receive the throne of David, was that it was the fulfillment of this covenant promise of God to David that Isaiah looked ahead and saw:
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9: 6-7)
It is evident that this Seed of David, to whom the promise was intended in its fulness was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the seed of David, or the Son of David, as the Jews had come to know this promised One by the time that Jesus came onto the scene.
Just like all the promises of God which contain the idea of an everlasting covenant were fulfilled in Christ and His kingdom (the Passover, the Land, etc.), so too was that promise made to David. That is the reason we see Matthew emphasizing the lineage of David in his gospel right from the very beginning in chapter one. This Jesus is of the seed of David, says Matthew to his primarily Jewish audience.
Peter also mentions this specifically when he states that the PROOF that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah, the Son of David, and that He had taken His seat on the throne of David, was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT ONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS UPON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, (seated on the throne – my comments) and having received from the Father THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” (Acts 2:29-33).
What could be more clear than this? The inspired apostle, speaking under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, categorically declares that the promise of God to David that one of his descendants would sit upon his throne was specifically referring to CHRIST JESUS!
It was the resurrection of Christ which then lead to his glorification some weeks later, which prepared Him to sit at the highest place of honor in the universe, namely the RIGHT HAND of God. That is where the throne of David is located. In the heavens! It was from that throne that He poured forth the Holy Spirit!
Now what Peter is saying to these Jews is basically this: “You all know that the Son of David, is also the Messiah. He and He alone receives the fulness of the Spirit without measure and has the authority and right to bestow that Spirit upon whomever He wishes. After all, that is what the very word, ‘Messiah’ means, the Anointed One. Do you see this phenomenon? Do you hear this message spoken in your own native tongue? This is the PROOF, the EVIDENCE, that the Messiah, the Anointed One, has taken His seat upon the throne of His father David and is NOW ruling and reigning as this mighty King foretold of in the Scriptures!”
This is the very reason that the apostle quotes from the prophet Joel in his sermon of that day:
“…but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS”, says the Lord, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL MANKIND…’” (Acts 2:16-17).
Look at what Peter goes on to say about this promised Seed of David who would pour forth of the Spirit: “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY Lord, ‘SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND UNTIL I MAKE THEY ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR THY FEET’”.
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:34-36)
The futurists (premillennial dispensationalists) tell us that during the millennium Christ will sit on a physical throne of David in the land of Israel, but that flies in the face of the assertion of the apostle Peter that Christ Jesus is seated on that very throne now ( the day of Pentecost some 2000 years ago!).
The throne is in the heavens, not on the earth and will NEVER BE ON THE EARTH because the Psalmist tells us plainly that “IN THE HEAVENS” Thou will establish Thy faithfulness”.
There are several passages which speak of this great King, this Son of David, taking His rightful place at the right and of God.
Consider: PSALM 24 –
The King of Glory entering Zion
The psalmist asks a question:
“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? “(Psalm 24:3)
Comes the answer:
“He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:4-5)
Then the scene shifts to the One who is the consummate individual who possesses all of these traits in abundance:
“Lift up your heads. O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in!” (Psalm 24:7).
One sees a procession heading up into the heavenly Zion which has a set of bars, or doors or gates blocking entrance into its habitation. A voice rings out from the procession demanding entrance of the King of Glory into its gates. From within, a voice answers demanding to know the identity of this being.
“Who is this King of Glory?” (Psalm 24:8)
The answer comes back from the procession:
“The LORD strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle” (Psalm 24:8)
Once more the procession demand entrance into the gates:
“Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in!” ( Psalm 24:9)
Again:
“Who is this King of Glory?” comes the challenge of those within the gates (verse 10)
And the final answer: “The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory!” (Psalm 24:10)
What more can anyone say to this scene than a thousand Hallelujahs! The mighty, conquering King, the Lord of Hosts Himself, the Son of David, the Seed of the Woman, has finished the work which His Father assigned Him to do. He has effected salvation for His elect, secured for them a perfect righteousness, defeated all their enemies, sin, the world, the grave, and the devil, and now is ready to sit down upon the throne of His father David and rule.
What else could Jesus have meant when He told His disciples to go forth and make disciples of all nations saying:
“ALL authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth…” (Matt 28:18)
No better description of the fulfillment of Psalm 24 could have been given to us than that of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossians:
“…when He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through the cross…” (Col 2:15)
What a perfect scene! The triumphant King parading His defeated foes before the universe as a spectacle! Who can refuse to open those gates now?
Sadly, we have an entire system of eschatology known as premillennial dispensationalism, which in effect, has this King still waiting to take the throne of David so that he might begin to exercise His reign! What a gross disservice this is to the glory of Christ! Instead of seeing Jesus in the fashion that Paul in his letter to the Hebrews does:
“But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOR…” (Heb 2:9).
The dispensationalist (futurist) sees him waiting to be seated on His royal throne instead of ruling in splendor and glory NOW. As a matter of Biblical fact, He has been ruling on that throne of the Lord for nearly 2000 years already!
Look at what the Psalmist goes on to say about this Seed of David:
“He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury: ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.’ (Psalm 2:4-6)
Remember the point we made earlier in this paper – Zion became synonymous with the place from which the king would reign and where His royal throne would be located.
And what is the result of that coronation and establishment of this King?
“’Ask of Me, and I will surely give the Gentiles as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt shatter them like earthenware’. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” (Psalm 2:8-12)
Notice how similar is this Psalm’s warning to that of the Lord Jesus in His days of the flesh:
“…And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like the dust.” (Matt 21:44)
Either one voluntarily casts themselves upon the mercy of this Great King, in which case his heart is broken in repentance as he mourns over his sinfulness and lack of righteousness, or his pride condemns him as an enemy to this Mighty Ruler, who will crush him to powder without mercy, shattering him like a clay pot.
Another Psalm detailing the reign of this Son of David is one of the more frequently quoted psalms in the New Testament.
“The LORD said to My Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet’. The Lord will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying ‘Rule in the midst of Thine enemies.’ (Psalm 110: 1-2)
We have already seen this particular psalm quoted by the apostle Peter who referred to its fulfillment in the resurrection and subsequent glorification of the Seed of David, the Lord Christ in his sermon made on the day of Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2. The King of Glory has come into the gates, taken His seat in Zion and begun to exercise his reign. He is crowned with GLORY and HONOR and wields a strong scepter with which he subdues His enemies.
Either those enemies become His friends through repentance and faith as they yield to His servants and ministers of the gospel or they remain as His enemies, in which case He will grind them all to powder.
This is a good time perhaps to show exactly how this stone fell upon the nation of disbelieving Jews.
“He said therefore, ‘A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back. BUT HIS CITIZENS HATED HIM, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us… but these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over him, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” (Luke 19:12-14, 27)
Here we see the refusal of a group of people to submit to the reign of a nobleman. To use the words of the psalmist; they refuse to bow down and do him homage. The result is inevitable, the wrath of the lord is kindled and they soon perish in the way.
These enemies of the gospel and of the early church, the Jews of that day, were crushed by the iron scepter of Christ, this King ruling out of the heavenly Zion upon the throne of David.
“For you brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.” (1Thes2:14-16)
“Fill up then the measure of the guilt of your fathers.” (Matt 23:32)
“…because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people.” (Luke 21:22-23)
“Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” (Psalm 2:12)
One last thing in touching on this topic lest we be remiss in so doing is to refute a destructive error that has been spread by some within the Preterist camp. The detestable falsehood which some in that otherwise theologically solid system of eschatology are proclaiming, is that the Lord Jesus divested himself of His human body when He was glorified. This vile teaching strikes at the very heart of the Christian hope of having our human bodies conformed to the glorified body of the Lord Christ.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Phil 3:20-21).
It should be clearly noted, that the apostle specifically declares that one of the kingly functions of the Lord Christ – the power given to Him to subject all things to Himself – specifically includes the transformation of the bodies of the elect into conformity with the body of His glory, or His glorious body. How this can supposedly be done by a King without a glorified human body, one who supposedly “divested himself” of his human body, is as great a mystery as they come!
Essentially what these men teaching this nonsense are doing is destroying the humanity of the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that while the Son of God took to Himself our nature, except in His case it was in the likeness of sinful flesh seeing that He was not born of a human father but was instead born of God, He remained fully Divine even as He was fully human.
Take away his body, and He is no longer truly human for what is man but body, soul and spirit?
Man is not an angelic being. He possesses a physical body unlike the angels who are ministering spirits and do not possess physical bodies. Now as to what the exact nature of our bodies will be when they are glorified or conformed to the likeness of the Lord Jesus’ glorious body, one cannot truly say.
What we do know however is that our bodies were meant to be redeemed ( Romans 8:23), that when He appears, we will be like Him for we will see Him as He is (1John 3:2), and that we will put off mortality and be clothed with immortality (1Cor 15:51-54); and that without a body of some sort, that which makes us fully human is not possible.
With this in mind, let us visit a remarkable prophecy contained in the writings of the prophet Zechariah.
“Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold a MAN, who name is BRANCH, for He will branch out from where He is, and He will build the temple of the Lord. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and SIT AND RULE ON HIS THRONE. Thus He will be a PRIEST ON HIS THRONE, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” (Zech 6:12-13).
Notice, a PRIEST KING, who sits on His throne. This is our Great High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek, the priest/king of Genesis who Paul references in Hebrews where he is thinking of Psalm 110: 1-4 where this same KING is mentioned in the first few verses of that Psalm followed by a priest after the order of Melchizedek.
“The LORD says to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for Thy feet’. The Lord will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Thy enemies.’ Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the dew. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘Thou art a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek…” (Psalm 110: 1-4)
To rebut the foolishness of premillennial dispensationalism – if Jesus is NOT CURRENTLY SEATED on the throne of David, we Christians have NO HIGH PRIEST, because this priest sits on a throne and that throne is clearly revealed in the pages of the Old Testament to be none other than the throne of David.
No THRONE, No KING; No KING, No PRIEST.
This King must have a Throne or He is no Priest. This Priest must be a King or He is no Priest. If this Priest/King is not seated on the Throne of David, right now, not at some point in the future in some sort of fanciful millennium, then we HAVE NO INTERCESSOR between us and God. Just think about the ramifications of such a thing!
This by itself, should be enough to obliterate every last vestige of the futurist scheme if they but understood the folly of what they are saying when they erroneously postpone that seating on the throne of David far off into the future and only for a period of some 1000 literal years.
However, this can also be used to expose the idea of some sort of bodiless spirit of Jesus which is currently being espoused by some false teachers in the Preterist camp. Both promises are made to a MAN.
“(Behold the MAN whose name is Branch)”.
It is a MAN who sits on the Throne of David and it is a MAN who is the Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. To be a man, this mighty being must be fully and recognizably human and that He cannot be without some form of a human body. That body is a GLORIFIED HUMAN BODY, or we have no mediator and no king, at least not one that God’s promises are made good in. If Jesus divested His human body, as some of these false teachers are asserting, then the promise of God fails, something which is impossible.
A MAN MUST NEEDS SIT ON THE THRONE OF DAVID IN ORDER TO VALIDATE THE PROMISE of GOD.
I will leave you with this passage:
“The Lord has established His throne in the heavens.” ( Psalm 103:19)
May the Lord bless these things to the reader’s benefit and edification and may he or she be spurred on to further delve into these matters and in so doing, come away marveling at the faithfulness of the Lord and say with the apostle Paul:
“For ‘WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN’. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:34-36)
“He will give him the throne of his father David” (Isaiah 9:7)
Dan Norcini SS
February 19, 2019