SON OF DAVID (Various Scriptures)
INTRODUCTION:
This is the third week of Advent leading up to Christmas in which we remember the birth of the incarnate Son of God. We began a series two weeks ago looking at the different times that Jesus Christ is called the Son of someone. We began by looking at Jesus Christ as the Son of Adam, and this mainly focused on His humanity, that God truly became man, the perfect man so that He might be our perfect substitute, that He might be our sinless sacrifice as He went to the cross and died for us. Then last Sunday we looked at Jesus Christ as the Son of Abraham and as the Son of Abraham He fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant by being the son through whom all peoples of the earth would be blessed. He did this by coming to be the Savior and offer salvation to all mankind, Jew and Gentile. We learned that if we have received the salvation that He offers through His death and resurrection, then we are considered as sons and daughters of Abraham having a like faith. God has canceled our debt of sin and credited the righteousness of the Lord Jesus to our account, through Christ we are righteous in God’s sight, we are justified before Him.
This morning we want to look at Jesus Christ as the Son of David, and why this is important to us. Then next week in the morning service we will look at Jesus Christ as the Son of Mary, and at our Christmas Eve service in the evening we will look at Jesus Christ as the Son of God. As we enter into the Christmas season let us rejoice in the advent of the incarnate Son of God, the Son of Mary, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the Son of Adam. Let’s pray and then open up the Scriptures.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bible’s this morning to Romans 1:1-4. Again, this is our jumping off point. We will be looking at many other Scriptures today with regard to Jesus Christ as the Son of David. In these opening verses of Roman’s Paul clearly defines Jesus Christ as the Son of David and the Son of God. Please if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Romans 1:1-4,
“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Romans 1:1–4, NASB95)[1]
SON OF JESSE (Ruth 4:18-22; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5-6)
Who is this David that Jesus Christ is born a descendant of? The first time that David is ever mentioned is in the book of Ruth. In the last chapter of Ruth in the final five verses we have a genealogy through Perez, who was a son of Judah through his daughter-in-law Tamar. We read in Ruth 4:18-22, “Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron, and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.” (Ruth 4:18–22, NASB95)[2] You will remember that when we went through Ruth that Ruth was a Moabitess who had returned a widow with her mother-in-law Naomi from Moab to Israel, to the town of Bethlehem. Boaz, a wealthy landowner and a relative to Naomi’s husband, who had also died in the land of Moab where he had taken his family during a famine in Israel, this Boaz took notice of Ruth and it was discovered that he was a kinsmen-redeemer and he redeemed Naomi and Ruth and Ruth became his wife and gave birth to Obed. Boaz was of the tribe of Judah through the lineage of Perez.
David is not mentioned again until 1st Samuel 16 when the prophet Samuel goes to Bethlehem to anoint him as the second king of Israel after Saul had disobeyed the command of the Lord. A good part of the rest of 1st Samuel is about Saul seeking to take David’s life after he learns that he is the next anointed king of Israel. King Saul is killed in battle with the Philistines in the end of 1st Samuel and in 2nd Samuel five David is crowned king over all Israel and begins his reign. David conquers Jerusalem and makes it the capital city of Israel. He moves the ark of the covenant there and the priests from the line of Aaron minister before it. He also builds a palace of cedar for his royal residence.
Years after David’s death during the lifetime of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, there were prophecies made concerning David’s dynasty and the covenant that God had made with David that we will look at in just a minute. The prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 11:1, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1, NASB95)[3] And if time permitted and we read down through verse 10 of this chapter we would learn that this shoot from the stem of Jesse refers to the Lord Jesus Christ and it describes His reign as the Son of David during the millennial kingdom. Jeremiah gets even more specific in his prophecy in Jeremiah 23:5-6 where he writes, “’Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, “The Lord our righteousness.”’ ” (Jeremiah 23:5–6, NASB95)[4] Jeremiah says this branch will be righteous and raised up for David and that He will reign as king. This can be speaking of no one besides Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, because He is the only one who could be called “The LORD our righteousness.” Isaiah and Jeremiah are both telling us that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the covenant that God made with David when he was king over Israel. What was this covenant and what were the promises that it held?
THE DAVIDIC COVENANT (2nd Samuel 7:8-16; 1st Chronicles 17:6-14; Luke 1:32-33)
The Davidic covenant as it is called is found recorded for us in two places, it is in 2nd Sanuel 7:8-16 and 1st Chronicles 17:6-14. The accounts are almost identical, but we will look at the account in 2nd Samuel. In this account David was living in the palace that he had built, and the ark of the covenant was in a tent that David had pitched for it when they moved it to Jerusalem. So, David told the prophet Nathan that it was not right that he should dwell in a house of cedar and that the ark of God should dwell in a tent. He wanted to build a temple to house the ark. Nathan told him to do all that was in his mind, because the Lord was with him. Nathan said this without consulting the Lord, and on that same night the Lord spoke to Nathan. This is what we read in 2nd Samuel 7, beginning in verse 4, “But in the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ‘Go and say to My servant David, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?” ‘ ‘Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. 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. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.’ “ ” (2 Samuel 7:4–16, NASB95)[5] This covenant that God made with David is an unconditional covenant, God will fulfill it, and not only is it unconditional it is also everlasting in duration. This covenant guarantees three things: (1) There will be an unending or unfailing house or line of David’s sons—a king without cessation to sit on David’s throne (The necessity of chastisement may cause the throne itself to be unoccupied, but it shall never lack one whose right it is to sit on the throne. The covenant can never—on oath of Yahweh—be revoked.) (2) The throne, the earthly throne of David to continue forever; and (3) a kingdom forever. In addition to this covenant three other passages of Scripture announce the eternal character of David’s throne. The psalmist writes in Psalm 89:35-37, “Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants 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. Selah.” (Psalm 89:35–37, NASB95)[6] Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 9:6-7, a familiar passage we often hear at Christmas, “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, NASB95)[7] Finally, Gabriel proclaimed it in his announcement to Mary in Luke 1:31-33, “And 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 the 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, NASB95)[8] Gabriel is clearly announcing that Jesus Christ is a descendant of David by announcing that God the Father will give Him the throne of His father David, and that He will reign on that throne forever, and there shall be no end to His kingdom. David understood this covenant as an everlasting dynasty, an everlasting throne, and an everlasting kingdom to refer to an earthly dynasty, from his own sons, he believed it to be an earthly throne, and an earthly kingdom and all three of these are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.
SON OF DAVID (Matthew 1:1; Romans 1:1-4; Revelation 5:1-5; 22:16)
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of David. In both genealogies of Jesus, the one in Matthew 1 and the one in Luke 3, the line of Jesus Christ is traced through David. Matthew even begins his genealogy of Jesus by writing in Matthew 1:1, “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:” (Matthew 1:1, NASB95)[9] This genealogy is traced through Joseph, and goes through David’s son Solomon. God had promised David that his throne and kingdom would be everlasting, God had promised David that his descendants would sit on his throne and reign. God promised that David’s line would be preserved so that there would always be a royal line. Ultimately, these promises would be fulfilled in the Messiah. From Scripture we know that David had several sons, but the legal right to sit of the throne passed only to one of them and that right was passed to Solomon. Only those who came through the line of Solomon, the royal line, could pass the kingship onto their firstborn son. In other words, it was possible to be a physical descendant of David and yet have no legal right to the throne. Matthew 1:1-16 is the genealogy of Jesus through the descendants of David who were of royal lineage as traced through David’s son Solomon. This genealogy ends with Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary.
But within this genealogy there is a dilemma. First, we know that Matthew did not include all the descendants that sat on the throne, he skipped some generations to keep the genealogy in three sets of fourteen, this was an acceptable practice, this made memorizing your genealogy easier. In verses 11-12 we have the fourteenth descendant of David through Solomon. In Matthew he is named Jeconiah, he was not the son of Josiah, he was the grandson of Josiah. Jeconiah’s father was Jehoiakim, and he was king during the first phase of the Babylonian captivity which began in the third year of his reign. In this first phase of the captivity, Nebuchadnezzar deported some of the nobles and people to Babylon, this was when Daniel and his companions were taken into captivity. When Jehoiakim died his son Jehoiachin, also known as Jeconiah or simply Coniah, sat on the throne as king. He was a wicked king and did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because of this wickedness the LORD through the prophet Jeremiah pronounced a curse on Jeconiah, this is found in Jeremiah 22:30, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Write this man [Jeconiah] down childless, A man who will not prosper in his days; For no man of his descendants will prosper Sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.’ ”” (Jeremiah 22:30, NASB95)[10] This curse placed on Jeconiah by the LORD did not mean that this man would not have any children, but that none of his children would sit on the throne of David. Jeconiah was carried into exile to Babylon just three months and ten days after he began to reign, and since that time none of his descendants have sat on David’s throne and ruled as king over Israel or Judah. Joseph was a direct descendant of Jeconiah, he was of the royal lineage through Solomon, but he could not sit on the throne because of the curse placed on Jeconiah and his descendants. To authenticate the Messiah, three conditions must be met that seem impossible to fulfill. (1) The Messiah had to be in the direct line of David. (2) The Messiah had to be the legal son of Joseph. (3) The Messiah could not be the biological son of Joseph without coming under the curse on the descendants of Jeconiah. Only God in His sovereignty could fulfill these three conditions.
If we were to continue to read Matthew 1, we would learn that Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant before they were married and had decided to divorce her quietly. Once he had decided this, we learn that an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. This angel addressed him as Joseph, son of David acknowledging that he was of the royal lineage. Then the angel told him that he did not need to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, she had not been unfaithful to him, the Child conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. This Child that Mary was going to have did not have an earthly, biological father, but in telling Joseph to take Mary as his wife, the angel is telling Joseph to accept this child as his own child, to be His earthly father. The angel told Joseph in verse 21, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, NASB95)[11] By telling Joseph that he was to name this Son which Mary would have, the angel was telling him to make Mary’s Son legally his Son. Verses 24-25 tell us how Joseph responded, “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24–25, NASB95)[12] Because Joseph did what the angel commanded him, he fulfilled two of the conditions need to authenticate the Messiah. First, this would mean that Jesus would be the legal Son of Joseph and therefore have a right to the throne of David. Second, He would not be the biological Son of Joseph so the curse on Jeconiah’s descendants would not affect Jesus. The third condition required the Messiah to be a direct descendant of David, this is solved by the genealogy of Mary in Luke chapter 3, there we see that He is a direct descendant of David, not through Solomon, but through David’s son Nathan, so He is a direct descendant of David biologically through Mary.
When we read that Jesus Christ is the Son of David, we know that He is biologically the Son of David through Mary and He is legally the Son of David through Joseph which fulfills all the conditions to sit on David’s throne. One day He will return and reign over the house of Jacob and over the world as the Son of David. Revelation 5:1-5 tells us that He alone is worthy to take the scroll, the deed of the world and open it because He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The last recorded words of Jesus are found in the last chapter of Revelation. Jesus again confirms His right to sit on the throne, He says in Revelation 22:12-13 and 16, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end…I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Revelation 22:12–13, 16, NASB95)[13]
CONCLUSION:
Why is this important for us? For two reasons and each reason has to do with our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David. If we do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, in other words, if we have never accepted His gift of salvation purchased for us through His death and resurrection, then the fact that He is coming back someday as the King of kings means judgment for us. That judgment begins before His return, the judgment will begin during the tribulation, and if you die before that you will enter eternity that will be filled with pain and loneliness, forever separated from God and all that is good. But this does not have to be your fate, Jesus Christ came to this earth the first time to die for mankind, and that is why Christmas is so important for us, Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, completely sinless, grew into a man never sinning, and willingly went to the cross on our behalf, the sinless Son of God died as our substitute, paying the penalty that is required for sin, He was buried and on the third day, as proof that His death satisfied the wrath of God against sin, He was raised from the dead. If you come to God in repentance agreeing that you are a sinner and have sinned against a holy God, but you believe that Jesus Christ died for you and rose from the dead on the third day, you will have your sins forgiven and be saved from God’s wrath, and you will spend eternity with God and all that is good. This is what Paul was saying in Romans 1:1-6 when he wrote, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;” (Romans 1:1–6, NASB95)[14] By believing in Jesus Christ and what He did for you, then you are among those whom are the called of Jesus Christ.
For those of us who have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ through our faith in Him and His death and resurrection on our behalf, this is important for us because we are promised that when He returns to sit on the throne of David and reign over Israel and the world, we will return with Him and we will reign with Him. John writes in Revelation 20:6, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6, NASB95)[15] What a future, rejoice in Jesus Christ, the Son of David.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Emphasis mine.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Emphasis mine.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Emphasis mine.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Emphasis mine.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Emphasis mine.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.