God's Covenant With David

We'll now examine the terms of God's covenant with David as given in 2 Sam. 7:12-14, 16. "And when thy days be fulfilled and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish His Kingdom forever. I will be His Father and He shall be my Son...and thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever." This unconditional promise was fulfilled in Christ (Heb. 1:5-8).

David's Natural Seed Rejected...

It's well to remember that God didn't make any unconditional promises concerning the earthly throne of David or to his fleshly descendants. Concerning them, we read in 1 Kings 2:3, 4 David's charge to Solomon, "Keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes and His commandments...that the Lord may continue His word which He spake concerning me, saying if they children take heed...there shall not fail thee a man on the throne of Israel" (See also 1 Chron. 28:9 and 2 Chron. 6:14, 15). This conditional covenant concerning David's earthly throne required obedience to God's commandments on the part of each succeeding sovereign. Attention is now directed to 1 Kings 11:11, "Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statures, which I commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and give it to thy servant." So far as God's obligations to any of David's fleshly descedants was concerned, they were ended as soon as the covenant was broken. This is apparent as we follow the Scriptures in 2 Kings 17:18-20. "Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statures of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them...and cast them out of his sight." Continuing now with Exekiel 21:25-27, "And thou profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown...until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him."

The sword of judgment was now unsheathed against the last of David's kingly line. God's forbearance at last came to an end. His reluctance to pronounce their doom is seen in these words, "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes and sending; because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised the words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chron. 36:15, 16). The same passage relates the defeat of King Jehoiakim and later of King Zedekiah, of the destruction of the magnificent temple and the city of Jerusalem with its majestic walls, and the carrying away into Babylon of all but the poorest of the inhabitants.

The fleshly descendants of David refused to obey God, and they reaped the curses of the broken covenant. They were not permitted to wield the sceptre. They ended in ignominy and shame and lost all their rights to an earthly throne.

Although David's family tree was shorn of its kingly glory and power, the root of his lineage remained. Isaiah recognized this when he prophesied, "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots" (Isaiah 11:1). It's with a sense of relief that we turn from the dismal failure of these erring kings to the sure foundation of Christ who rightfully succeeded to David's throne in the sense that He is King over all God's people.

The Covenant With David Fulfilled in Christ...

The throne of Christ differed greatly from that of David. The purpose and scope of the reign of Christ are vividly set forth in Luke 1:32, 33, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of his father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." We observe here that the kingdom over which Christ reigns is timeless in duration and limitless in scope. It's world-wide, universal. It has no frontiers; it overleaps national boundaries and racial barriers. The angels who announced the Savior's birth said, "...of great joy which shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day...a Savior..." (Luke 2:10, 11).

The point to notice is that Jesus Christ came into the world as the Savior and He was to reign over a saved people. The prophecy of Isaiah quoted by Paul in Rom. 15:12 lends additional support to this statement. "There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles." This passage declares that Jesus rose from the grave to reign. The resurrection is vitally connected with the reign of Christ also in Acts 2:29, 30, 32. "He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. This Jesus hath God raised up."

Turning to Psalm 45:6 we read, "Thy throne, O God is for ever and ever; the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter." This Scripture together with 2 Sam. 7:14 is quoted in Heb. 1:5-8. Therein we learn that Christ is the Son referred to in the covenant made with David. It also shows us that it was His throne; that is, Christ's that was to be established forever. Heb. 1:8 says, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne O God is forever and ever. The throne to which Jesus ascended after His resurrection is far greater than any earthly throne. From it, He exerts His sovereignty over all the universe, for He said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28:18).

Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews who are of the faith of Abraham. He dosen't reign over fleshly descendants. He said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). Instead of setting up a grand earthly monarchy opposed to Rome or any succeeding earthly dominion, the Bible shows us that His Kingdom is the opposite to that of satan. He wields a scepter of righteousness, wereas Satan reigns in wickedness. In Rom 5:21 we read, "For as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." The reign of Christ is a reign of grace. It's the opposite of the reign of sin. We're translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col. 1:13). Of this reign there's no end. It reaches over all the world wherever the gospel makes Christ known; it lasts for all time; Christ wields His scepter in righteousness and He reigns over the Israel of God, the children of the faith of Abraham, who's father of all who believe. The true nature of His kingdom comes more properly later in our study...dealing with the Messiah.

Chapter 10

The Message of Daniel

Daniel's Rise to Power...

Possibly the prophecies of Daniel are the most interesting in the Old Testament. Many books have been written about them, but unfortunately a wide difference of opinion exists concerning their interpretation. While this fact is regrettable, it shouldn't discourage us from a careful study of this important book. Remembering again that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev. 19:10) let's see how God's plan is served by Daniel.

Very little is known of Daniel, personally. He was of the tribe of Judah and is thought to have been of royal or noble birth. He was carried captive to Babylon while very young and rose to a position of influence in the country of his captors. Two incidents should be told in passing. First, Daniel 3 tells the story of the miraculous deliverance of the three young Hebrews from the burning fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to the great image erected by Nebuchadnezzar. This remarkable event is characterized by the special intervention of God. When Nebuchadnezzar gazed into the raging inferno, he was astonished to see a fourth person there whom he described as being like the "Son of God." This is the first mention in the Bible of the term, Son of God. Second, the story of Daniel in the lions' den, chapter 6, and how God miraculously preserved his life, is also one of undying interest.

Nebuchadnezzar's Strange Dream, and Its Significance...

Daniel's rise to fame in Babylon was sudden and dramatic. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream but couldn't remember it. It troubled him so that he threatened all the wise men of Babylon with death if they failed to reveal it to him. (The wise men included all the soothsayers, fortune tellers, and so forth, who claimed to have this ability.) In all the land, Daniel was the only one who could tell the dream, for God revealed it to him. The entire second chapter of Daniel should be read in connection with this study. The interpretation of the dream is given in Daniel 2:36-45. "This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength and glory...Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces and bruise...And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces, the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." This vision tells us that God would set up a kingdom; it tells the result of its impact upon world civilization; it also tells us exactly when it would begin; and it describes its divine origin.

The Miraculous Stone of Divine Origin...

The starting point in the prophecy is the Babylonian Empire which is symbolized by the head of gold. Then follow the Medo-Persian, the Greek and Roman empires, which are signified by the breast of silver, the thighs of brass, and the legs of iron and clay. The latter two were world empires. It was in the days of these kings that God determined to set up His everlasting kingdom which is symbolized as a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and which struck the image while it was standing. The empires of Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece and Rome have long-since passed into oblivion, and there's nothing in history or prophecy to indicate that they'll be revived; in fact, a reconstructed Roman Empire wouldn't fulfill the prophecy at all, because the stone didn't strike a reconstructed image, but rather an image still intact. There's nothing in the vision to indicate that the toes belong to the future, restored Roman empire. Apart from the ridiculous conclusion that such an interpretation would make the toes longer than all the rest of the image combined, there's the statement that the stone smote the image on the feet. In doing so, it crumbled not only the feet, but the "brass, silver and gold," that is, the entire image. In order for the prophecy to relate to the future, it would require the complete restoration of the Roman, Greek, Medo-Persian and Babylonian empires and all they stood for (v45).

From the study of ancient history we learn about the culture, civilization and religions of the old world empires. Ancient Babylon was among the foremost, having extensive libraries of art and literature. They also had an advanced system of worship, with deities of various names and significances; and, in addition, they had many heathen arts of witchcraft and divination. It was a diabolical system, both cruel and degrading. With the fall of Babylon before the armies of Medo-Persia, a new empire ruled the Eastern world. The Persians took all the Babylonian libraries, and art, and adopted much of their culture and religion and incorporated it into the Persian system.

The Religious Policy of Rome...

The conquests of Alexander the Great form a turning point in history. Before his armies the mighty empires of the East fell, never to rise again. All the Oriental culture and literature and learning and religions were released like a flood upon the Western world. Much of it was incorporated into the religious life of the Greeks. When the Romans began to rise to power in the West, they came into mortal combat with the Greeks and succeeded in extending their scepter over all the ancient world. These proud tyrants ruled with despotic force...pillaging, and confiscating everything they chose. Thus the literature, art, culture and religions of the east found their way to Rome.

The Romans granted their subjects freedom of religion with the exception of Emperor worship. Every subject in the empire had to burn incense to the reigning emperor, a custon they adopted from the Orient. In Rome, a temple called the Pantheon was built in which the gods of every nation were housed and every subject in the empire could worship at the shrine of his god. Thus, Rome preserved and upheld the entire heathen system of idolatry. All the arts, culture and religions of ancient Babylon, of Persia and Greece were incorporated into the Roman Empire. The "image" seen by Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted by Daniel still stood. Heathenism in all its diabolical ugliness gripped the minds and hearts of men in its cruel degrading sway. Apart from Israel, all the world was in the depths of darkness and despair, bowing down to one colossal image of Satan's making before Christ came.

Chapter 11

The Stone Cut Out Without Hands

Spiritual Condition of the World Before Christ Came...

It was when the Roman Empire was at the height of its power during the reign of Agustus Caesar that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. The event is told in simple words in Luke 2. The birth was heralded by a choir of angels saying "Glory to God in the highest" to a group of astonished shepherds in a nearby field as they watched their flocks by night. A new star in the heavens guided wise men from the East to find the Christ Child. Otherwise the most significant birth this world has ever known took place in obscurity. We quote from Myers' Ancient History, p. 449 as follows: "From the East the cult of Emperor worship spread to the West, and became the favorite worship of the masses everywhere. Its establishment had far-reaching consequences, as we shall see: since at the very time the polytheistic religion of the Graeco-Roman world was taking form, there was springing up in a remote corner of the Empire a new religion with which this imperial cult must necessarily come into violent conflict." This new religion was Christianity; it was the stone cut out of the mountain without hands which, because of its divine origin was destined to become a mountain and fill the earth. The conflict which history anticipated between Christianity and paganism couldn't be pictured better than by a rock smiting the image and causing its utter and ruinous downfall.

It's difficult for us to comprehend the true condition of the world before Christ came. Heathenism spawned a loathsome brood of vices but gave the world few virtues. In government, the state with its despotic king was supreme; the individual had little personal freedom. In war, the most horrible cruelties were inflicted upon conquered peoples. Slavery with all its attendant evils was rife. Women were regarded as chattels and children were forced to work hard at a tender age. The weak and handicapped ones had to fend for themselves in a hostile society and little pity was extended to the aged or infirm. Lying, stealing and other vices were regarded with indifference under most circumstances. In religion, people sank into the vilest corrupton. The conscience, being seared, the mind darkened, ignorant and blinded to any true conception of a holy God, they groped their way in a maze of frightening superstitions and fears. Violence was prevalent, and since it was considered that might was right, the people lived for the most part in moral depravity and spiritual despair. The gods themselves were pictured as being sensual, vindictive and capricious, and the worshippers often accompanied their religious rites with orgies of drinking and sensuality.

As we turn our thoughts to the gospel proclaimed by Christ, we discover that it was different from anything the world had ever known. His words were life, while others offered no hope beyond death. His message was light in a world of darkness; His way led to life in contrast with eternal death; He asked men to believe in Him, and in the strength of the Spirit He promised to give them power to live lives pleasing to God. The world had never heard anything so startling and wonderful before. 1 Cor. 2:9 and 10 gives a graphic description: "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

The Destruction of the Image...

Naturally a doctrine so obviously contradictory to the customs and religions of the rest of the world would provoke conflict. The Christians refused to burn incense to the image of the Emperor because they believed Christ is king (Acts 17:7). On this point Myers' History, p.467, says "The Roman rulers required that men of every faith should at least...burn incense before the statue of the emperor. This the Christians steadfastly refused to do. Their neglect was believed to have angered the gods and endangered the safety of the state, bringing drought, pestilence and every disaster. Hence their persecution by pagan emperors."

It'll be seen that since the Christians recognized Christ as supreme king they made Christianity a political issue. The gospel of Christ came into conflict with the entire pagan system and philosophy of life. It challenged the degrading heathen customs; it condemned the sensuality of pagan orgies; it repudiated the claims of sorceries and black arts; (Acts 19:19) and it proclaimed love as the real motive for life. This divine truth, hearlded by men redeemed by the blood of the crudified and resurrected Savior, smote the very roots of paganism

At first, heathenism fought back. Christians were stoned to death; they were burned alive; they were thrown to the lions; they were tortured in every conceivable way; they were deprived of property and made outcasts. But "they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" (Rev 12:11). Gradually, the heathen shrines became emptied of devotees; the heathen gods were no longer in demand; (Acts 19:24-27) the world which for thousands of years had been held in superstition and darkness began to shake off its fetters and enjoy the new-found freedom of the gospel. The little stone, which was cut out of the mountain without hands, had smitten the image on its feet, as signified by Rome, and caused it to tremble, totter, and finally fall with such a shattering crash that the grip of heathenism was loosed forever.

At one time, Zeus and Diana and thousands of other venerated deities held sway over the minds of men, but today they're almost forgotten and they wield no influence; but the Name of Jesus Christ has grown to mountainous proportions overflowing and extending to the fartherest corners of the earth. Daniel was inspired to reveal this vision to Nebuchadnezzar and to preserve its message for us. In that way we can trace the origin of the Kingdom of God and its effect on the world once held in Satan's bondage. We can see how the kingdom came during the days of the Roman empire and crumbled everything signified by the great image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. It'll never be reconstructed again. The little stone, now of mountainous proportions, will see to that.

Chapter 12

Did Christ Postpone His Kingdom?

In view of the fact that the postponement of Daniel's seventieth week is of such importance that there's many volumes of literature on the subject, it seems valid for us to examine this teaching very thoroughly. Most premillennialists contend that Jesus Christ came into the world to set up an earthly kingdom but, owing to His rejection by the Jewish nation, He was forced to abandon the idea until a future age...thus we quote from Blackstone's, Jesus Is Coming, p. 87, "He (Jesus) would have set up the kingdom but they (the Jews) rejected and crucified Him." Again on p. 88, "The kingdom did come nigh when Christ came, and had they received Him, it would've been manifested, but now it's in abeyance (postponed) or waiting until He comes again." Practically the same thought is contained in the Scofield Reference Bible on p. 1011, "The kingdom of heaven announced as at hand by John the Baptist, by the King Himself, and by the twelve, and attested by mighty works, has been morally rejected. The rejected king now turns from the rejecting nation and offers, not the kingdom, but rest and service to such as are of conscious need." Again on p. 1100, "The kingdom in its outward form as covenanted to David, and described by the prophets, had been rejected by the Jews; so that during this present age, it would not come with observation but in the midst of the Pharisees in the persons of the King and His disciples. Ultimately the kingdom of heaven will come with outward show" (i.e. observation).

The above statements are very revolutionary and deserve our careful attention. If Jesus came into the world to establish a kingdom with Jewish hegemony, or pre-eminence, it seems extremely strange that they would reject Him when that's the very thing they expected Him to do. And if the kingdom of heaven is postponed to a future age, then the promises of God are yet to be fulfilled and have not been confirmed, for God did promise a kingdom. Furthermore, if the kingdom was in the midst of the Pharisees in the persons of Christ and His followers, then it was there just as much after the Jews rejected Him as it was before, for Jesus and His followers were still there and in fact increased in number. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation," to which Scofield replies that "Ultimately it will come with ourward show" (S.R.B. p. 1100).

Evidence Supplied by the Prophets...

Notice Peter's inspired reference in Acts 10:43, "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." Peter taught that all the prophets testified of the salvation that was to come through Jesus Christ. Commenting on the prophets, Blackstone writes,"They could understand the glory of the kingdom which should follow, but they couldn't understand the mystery which has been revealed to us; a suffering Messiah and a persecuted church" (pp. 89, 90). The Scripture to which Blackstone refers is 1 Pet. 1:10-12. The Scripture portrays the well-known fact that the plan of salvaton was, (and still is) a mystery which only God could have devised or comprehended. We experience salvation but we don't comprehend it. The church however, is built upon "the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20). Hence the church was foretold by the prophets.

When the apostle Paul was on trial before Agrippa he declared, (presumably on oath, since it was court testimony) that he never said anything "other than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come, that Christ should suffer and that He should be the first to rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles" (Acts 26:22, 23). In the midst of his magnificent defense, Paul turned to his judge saying, "Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?" (v27). It's worthy to note the answer given. Agrippa replied, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." The preaching of the prophets almost persuaded Agrippa to be a Christian. We can't escape the conclusion that Jesus Christ fulfilled that which was written of Him by the prophets according to Paul's interpretation.

This's made still more clear by appealing to Acts 28:20-31). Verse 23 says, "And when they had appointed him a day there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning to evening." If Jesus had postponed His kingdom, or only paritally fulfilled the promises, it would've been impossible for Paul to have persuaded these Jews that He was the Messiah. The fact that Paul preached the Kingdom of God, as stated in vv23 and 31, indicates that God's plan was not postponed or frustrated by the rejection of the Jews.

Appeal to the New Testament Concerning the Promises...

In Romans 1:1, 2 we read, "The gospel of God which He promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures." Notice that it was the gospel that the prophets foretold. 2 Cor. 1:20 says, "All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." Since all the promises are in Christ, it follows that the Christian believer is heir to them all. There are no promises of God outside of Christ for anybody. The Jewish rulers, steeped in their Talmudic traditions, appealed to the Scriptures for a reason to reject the Messiah, saying "Search (the Scriptures) and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet" (John 7:52)... thus, their uninspired interpretations blinded them to the real Person and plan of Christ and caused them to reject Him.

The Scofield R.B. makes the assertion "That it is not taught in the Scriptures that the Christian inherits the distinctive Jewish promises" (p. 1204). A careful comparison of all references to promises, prophecies and prophets, will unquestionably remove all doubt concerning the postponement of any part of God's plan to a future age. altogether, in Cruden's Concordance and In Young's Analytical Concordance, there's 144 different references to the prophets and prophecies of which 69 assure us that the things which came to pass in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ fulfilled exactly what the prophets prophesied. In addition, 31 quotations mention the prophecies having been "fulfilled." Five times the prophecies are said to be "established." Six of the references declare them to be "confirmed." which is a word that means "nothing more is needed by way of fulfillment." There are seven places where the prophecies are said to "come to pass" while an additional 33 are referred to under the words, "It is written."

Altogether, the words "promise, " "promises" and "promised" are mentioned 66 times. In every case, without exception, the emphasis is on fulfillment. In all these references there's never a hint, or a suggestion and cerainly not a definite statement that any promise or prophecy was postponed, or that it's waiting, or held in abeyance or thwarted by the Jews' rejection, or that they deviated in the slightest degree from that which God planned, and that which happened. The reader, therefore, has to make up his mind whether to accept the overwhelming evidence of Scripture that the Kingdom of God did come as God planned, or to believe the contrary view of the postponement theory as advocated by Dispensationalists. In our opinion, there's compelling Scriptural reasons for rejecting the postponement theory.