The Promise of an Outlasting Kingdom
B. Dale 2 Samuel 7:12-16 And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you… "And thy house and thy kingdom shall be permanent; Thy throne shall be established forever." (Ver. 16.) 1. The position of David was a very exalted one. He was the chosen earthly head of the theocracy, or kingdom of God; and on him rested the hope of its glorious consummation. He was the Lord's messiah - "the mediator through whom Jehovah dispensed help, safety, and blessing" (Riehm). 2. But was the hope of Israel to be completely realized in him? And were his dynasty and kingdom to be permanent, or to pass away, like others? 3. To these questions the promise now given furnished an adequate answer. David would be succeeded in the theocratic throne by his posterity, and his dynasty and kingdom would endure forever. 4. This promise, the great charter of the house of David, was "the foundation of all Messianic prophecies and hopes in the prophets concerning the completion of the kingdom of God, its revelations of grace and its blessings of salvation" (Erdmann). It was - I. AN EXPRESSION OF ABOUNDING GRACE. The free, condescending, unspeakable favour of God toward David, this it was which so deeply affected him (vers. 19-21). The good pleasure of the Lord had been shown in "the word of the Lord by Samuel," in David's exaltation to the throne after long suffering and trial (ver. 8), and in his subsequent prosperity (ver. 9); and it was further manifested in this great promise of continued grace to his house, "for a great while to come;" whereby his noblest aspirations would be fulfilled (2 Samuel 23:5), and through him and for his sake blessings would abound unto many. In like manner "the exceeding riches of his grace" are apparent in all the promises pertaining to eternal life and salvation, and the whole history of the progress of the kingdom of God from its commencement to its consummation. "The progress of God's kingdom, or of true religion, should be the progress of David's line, This point constituted the Messianic element in the prophecy. It limited the hopes of the world's redemption to David's line, as Jacob's prophecy had long ago limited it to the tribe of Judah" (P. Thomson). II. AN ASSURANCE OF EXTRAORDINARY GOOD. To the view of David the future was, by means of the promise, lighted up with glory. He beheld: 1. The existence of the royal house, of which he was the founder, made sure by the Divine oath. "Jehovah telleth thee that Jehovah will build thee a house" (ver. 11; Psalm 132:11; Psalm 89:3, 4). This was the general substance of the promise. "The royal office was elevated to the position of being the controlling and centralizing point of all the theocratic main elements of the national life." 2. The elevation of his posterity, and especially of one of his sons, to the royal dignity. "I will set up thy seed after thee" (ver. 12; 1 Chronicles 17:11). "Behold, a son shall be born to thee... Solomon," etc. (1 Chronicles 22:9; 38:10; 1 Kings 5:5; 1 Kings 8:19). 3. The establishment of the kingdom in security, peace, and happiness, all enemies being subdued; "and I will establish his kingdom;" which was necessary to the fulfilment of David's purpose. 4. The erection of the temple and the dwelling of the Divine King in the midst of his people. "He shall build a house for my Name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever" (ver. 13). "The building of the house here goes hand in hand with the eternity of the kingdom.... The essence of the temple consists in its being a symbol - an outward representation of the kingdom of God under Israel. The real import of our passage, then, is that henceforth the kingdom of David and the kingdom of God should be closely and inseparably linked together" (Hengstenberg, 'Christology'). "The idea of a number of descendants following one another (a line of kings) is evidently contained in the promise" (Keil); and in this sense David must have understood it. "The collective he (vers. 13, 14) includes in itself (like Genesis 3:15) the Son of David in the highest sense and the Founder of the true temple of God, which is his Church." 5. The relation of Father and son subsisting between God. and the theocratic king. "I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a son." Such was the relationship between Jehovah and Israel (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 14:1; Deuteronomy 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 31:9; Hosea 11:1), and it would be made specially manifest in the head and representative of the chosen people. A son (1) derives his being from his father, bears a close resemblance to him, stands near him, represents him, and shares his possessions; (2) is an object of his tender affection, under his protecting care, and subject to his merciful discipline; and (3) is bound to reciprocate his affection, to honour him, and obey. his commandments. The fatherly love of God is here more particularly presented to view; and "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Hebrews 12:6). "If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him," etc. (ver. 14). 6. The unchanging mercy of God, founded on this relation. "But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul," etc. (Ver. 15). If, indeed, the individual king should forsake the Lord, he would be "cast off forever" (1 Chronicles 28:9). "The contrast is that between the punishment of sin in individuals and the favour that remains permanently with the family, whereby the promise becomes an unconditional one" ('Christology'). The kingdom of God is a kingdom of righteousness. 7. The eternal duration of his dynasty and kingdom once more assured, with all the advantages of a government faithfully exercised according to the will of God. This was "the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure;" and these were the "sure mercies of David" (Isaiah 55:3). "This revelation was an epoch making one for his inner life. It brought an entirely new element into his consciousness, which, as his psalms show, moved him powerfully. He received the promise of the perpetual ascendency of his tribe, of the establishment of his kingdom amid the changing of all earthly things" ('History of the Kingdom of God under the Old Testament'). "This promise, like that made to Abraham, has a twofold aspect. One points to David's natural posterity and temporal kingdom; the other to the Messiah and the kingdom of Jehovah, which respected the former only as types and pledges of the latter." III. A FOUNDATION OF IMPERISHABLE HOPE. The promise was one of an eternal monarchy rather than directly of an eternal Monarch, "the King Messiah;" but it could only be completely fulfilled in such a Person, "since the eternity of a purely human kingdom is inconceivable;" and it became the basis of a hope of "his power and coming," which, notwithstanding repeated failure and disappointment, was to be renewed with undying strength. David was himself the centre of the Messianic idea and hope. "He regarded himself as the messiah of God; although, through his experience and words, he was only a means for representing the future One before his coming" (Delitzsch, 'Messianic Prophecies'). And, amidst the glorious prospect which the promise presented before him, he perceived (all the more clearly because of his own conscious infirmities) the ideal theocratic monarch; "a kingly image, in which all that the present manifests is far surpassed, and the kingship of David and Solomon seen in typical perfection" (Oehler, 'Theology of the Old Testament.' See ch. 23:4; Psalm 2.; 110.; 72.; 45.). The promise "refers neither only to Solomon nor only to Christ; nor has it a twofold application; but it is a covenant promise, which, extending along the whole line (of David's posterity), culminates in the Son of David, and in all its fulness applies only to him" (Edersheim). "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end," etc. (Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:82, 33; Acts 2:25-36). Observe that: 1. Men's views of the glory of the future age are naturally and necessarily formed according to the facts and ideas with which they are already familiar. 2. The Word of God, in promise and prophecy (being the gradual unfolding of his eternal purpose), had a larger signification than was understood by those to whom it at first came (1 Peter 1:11). "Divine prophecies are of the nature of their Author, with whom a thousand years are but as one day; and therefore are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have a springing and germinant accomplishment throughout many ages, though the height or fulness of them may refer to one age" (Bacon, 'Advancement of Learning'). 3. The promises of God are faithful and true; his covenant is a sure foundation of hope amidst human failures and earthly changes (Psalm 89:1-37; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 6:18). 4. The hope of humanity is in "the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star!" (Revelation 22:16). - D. Parallel Verses KJV: And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt 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. WEB: When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.