(Continued-Chapter IV-Messiah a Descendant of David)

The final variation to which I wish to call attention is found in verse 19 in the Samuel passage which corresponds to verse 17 of the Chronicles prediction. The words of the original, "And this was yet a small thing in thine eyes, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come; and this too after the manner of men, O Lord God," are interpreted by the chronicler as follows: "And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God." The clause with which we are concerned is in the original statement וְזֹאת תּוֹרַת הָאָדָם "And this too after the manner of men" but rendered by the later writer וּרְאִיתַנִי כְּתוֹר הָאָדָם הַמַּעֲלָה יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים׃ "And hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God." These statements have been variously translated. Much confusion, therefore, has arisen as a result.

David was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the revelation and hardly knew how to respond to the Lord's goodness. The Samuel statement is not difficult to understand. Another has expressed the meaning admirably: "This--namely, the love and condescension manifested in Thy treatment of Thy servant--is the law which applies to man, or is conformed to the law which men are to observe towards men, i.e. to the law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Lev. 19:18, compare Micah 6:8)." The Chronicles version of the case is not so easy. הַמַּעֲלָה is the word giving the difficulty. Keil tells us that "elsewhere it occurs only as a substantive, in the significations, 'the act of going up' (drawing up) (Ezra 7:9), 'that which goes up' (Ezek. 11:5), 'the step;' while for the signification 'height' (locus superior) only this passage is adduced by Gesenius in Thes." It is obvious from the parallel structure of the sentences that the phrase, "for a great while to come," corresponds to "of high degree." David saw the Messiah in the distant future as expressed by the first adverbial phrase. In his parallel statement he speaks of the man of high degree or the one "going up." In other words, David told the Lord that He had condescended to deal with him in loving-kindness and grace in that He had visited him in elevating his house by sending the Messiah who will fulfill the vision of glory.

2. The throne of God upon the earth

The throne of Judah was called the throne of David because he was the founder of the reigning dynasty. Today we speak of the English throne as that of the reigning sovereign because he exercises the regal functions of the realm. He does not rule by proxy but in person. Thus did David. But this same throne is said to be the throne of God. We know, however, that the throne of God is in heaven and that His kingdom embraces the entire universe. In what sense then can the throne of David be called the throne of God? Can it be that this language is an adaptation to human understanding? Or is it to be taken literally? It should, according to the recognized rule of interpretation, be understood in the ordinary and literal sense if the context and the facts of Scripture warrant such a meaning.

At Mt. Sinai the Lord proposed that Israel yield loving and faithful obedience to Him and become a holy nation of priests. On this point she failed. The Lord God wished to be her King and to provide her with everything in order that the nations might see the blessedness of serving and worshipping the true God. But by her disobedience, unfaithfulness, and stubbornness the Lord could never thus bless her. During the pre-monarchal times God had prophets who communicated His will to the people and judges who delivered them in times of crises when they called upon Him. Eventually she clamored for a king because she wished to be like the nations about her. In desiring an earthly king she rejected God as her sovereign. Throughout the period of the monarchy of Judah, there never sat a righteous king upon the throne of David who administered justice and equity in the correct sense of those terms--not even David, Israel's ideal king. All of Judah's kings were poor reflections of divine justice and righteousness. In view of the imperfections, the failures, and the gross sins on the part of the Davidic house, one should look closely to ascertain the exact reason why this throne was called the throne of the Lord.

In the light of the facts just presented, one can hardly see how, even in a secondary sense, the throne of David could be called the throne of God since all of the kings of his line, with the possible exception of four, were indeed poor specimens of divine justice and righteousness. (In passing this judgment upon them, I am not unmindful of the fact that all of us are but creatures of the dust and are prone to do wrong.) The heathen were never attracted to the worship of God by them, as should have been the case; on the contrary, they with their people were constantly being lured into idolatrous customs and ways. Therefore it seems highly improbable that the expression is used in a secondary sense. But how can the primary meaning fit the case since God Himself never did come to earth and mount the throne? The clue to the solution of this most important question probably is to be found in the chronicler's interpretation of the Davidic covenant, which we have been examining. This inspired author has shown us that He who is called the seed of David is to mount the throne and remain there forever. But in reply to this position, one may call attention to the fact that forever is sometimes used in a limited sense as is evidently the case in David's statement: "Howbeit the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever" (I Chron. 28:4). The context of this statement most clearly limits the duration of forever to the natural lifetime of the king. But the case is entirely different with David's seed. As we have already seen, the seed, the throne, and the kingdom of this seed are each said to have eternal duration. To remove any doubt, the inspired psalmist has shown that the seed and the throne of David are to continue forever, that is, so long as the sun and the moon endure (Ps. 89:36,37). Therefore this seed lives after He mounts the throne as long as the sun and the moon continue. This fact shows that there is something extraordinary about His person, for no merely human being could live and reign forever.

Since this promised one is the seed of David, He evidently is a man, nevertheless there is something about Him that enables Him to live and reign forever. Inasmuch as ordinary men do not live beyond the allotted time, we can be certain that there is something unusual about this one. The prophets promise everlasting life in bliss to the righteous, who will be raised from the dead at the conclusion of Jacob's trouble (Dan. 12:2; Isa. 26:19). Are death and such a resurrection presupposed by this passage, or is this great King of Israel of such a nature that He never dies, or are both possibilities true in His case? The answer to this question may be found in such a passage as Psalm 16:10, in which the speaker declares, כִּי | לֹא־תַעֲזֹב נַפְשִׁי לִשְׁאוֹל לֹא־תִתֵּן חֲסִידְיךָ לִרְאוֹת שָׁחַת׃ "For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption." In our text חֲסִידְיךָ holy ones appears; but R. Kittel in his Biblia Hebraica, a most scholarly critical work, calls our attention to the fact that many of the manuscripts and versions have חֲסִידְךָ Holy One. Rabbi Isaac Leeser in his translation of the Tenach renders this verse, "For thou wilt not abandon my soul to the grave: thou wilt not suffer thy pious (servant) to see corruption." This translator evidently considered that the singular form was the correct reading. But who is the pious or holy servant? Certainly not any ordinary person, for when this one dies, His spirit goes to שְׁאֹל Sheol. Though His body is lifeless for the time being, it is not subject to decomposition and decay but is preserved from corruption, awaiting the return of the soul from Sheol to take up its abode once more in its former earthly dwelling. The bodies of all the saints of God decompose after death, but the body of this one is immune to this universal law. Hence He is in a category by Himself. According to the prediction, this holy one lives forever after He rises from the dead. Since God is impartial, loves all of His people alike, and deals with each upon the same principles, it is certain that this holy one is not in the category of ordinary men. Though He is a man, he is more than a man. Hence He enjoys special consideration. Since, as we have learned in our study of the predictions of Balaam and of Hannah's Song of Praise, Messiah is God who appears in human form as Israel's King and reigns over the conquered world, we may reasonably conclude that it is He who mounts the throne of David in His resurrection body and reigns over the world. (This point will be taken up in the third book of this Messianic Series.)

Since the human-divine Messiah is to sit upon the throne of Israel, we can easily see why this throne is called the throne of God and the kingdom over which He rules, the kingdom of God. Hence those expressions which call the throne and kingdom of Judah the throne and the kingdom of God are used by way of anticipation. When Israel is purged of all sin, which cleansing process will be accomplished by the fires of the great Day of the Lord, she will be in a condition so that her Messiah may come and dwell in the midst of the Chosen People and reign over the world. This vision Jeremiah saw in chapter 3 of his prediction:

"And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers" (Jer. 3:16-18).

According to this covenant made with David, the kingdom of God is to be established upon earth forever, that is, when it is once set up, it will continue as long as the sun and the moon endure. We see from various statements of the prophets that it will have a small beginning and increase until it covers the earth. For instance, in Isaiah 9:6,9, it is said to be set up in Judah and to increase until it encircles the globe. In Isaiah eleven a beautiful picture of conditions upon the earth during Messiah's reign is given: the curse lifted, the animal kingdom restored to its primitive harmlessness, Israel secure in her own land, and the knowledge of the glory of the Lord encircling the earth as the waters cover the sea.

"And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.

"And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and they that vex Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. And they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; together shall they despoil the children of the east: they shall put forth their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria; like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

"And in that day thou shalt say, I will give thanks unto thee, 0 Lord; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid: for the Lord, even the Lord, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the peoples, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: let this be known in all the earth. Cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 11,12).

וְאֵלֶּה דִּבְרֵי דָוִד הָאַחֲרֹנִים נְאֻם דָּוִד בֶּן־יִשַׁי וּנְאֻם הַגֶּבֶר הֻקַם עָל מְשִׁיחַ אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב וּנְעִים זְמִרוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל׃
רוּחַ יְהוָה דִּבֶּר־בִּי וּמִלָּתוֹ עַל־לְשׁוֹנִי׃ אָמַר אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לִי דִבֶּר צוּר יִשְׂרָאֵל מוֹשֵׁל בָּאָדָם צַדִּיק מוֹשֵׁל יִרְאַת אֱלֹהִים׃ וּכְאוֹר בֹּקֶר יִזְרַח־שָׁמֶשׁ בֹּקֶר לֹא עָבוֹת מִנֹּגַהּ מִמָּטָר דֶּשֶׁא מֵאָרֶץ׃ כִּי־לֹא־כֵן בֵּיתִי עִם־אֵל כִּי בְרִית עוֹלָם שָׂם לִי עֲרוּכָה בַכֹּל וּשְׁמֻרָה כִּי־כָל־יִשְׁעִי וְכָל־חֵפֶץ כִּי־לֹא יַצְמִיחַ׃ וּבְלִיַּעַל כְּקוֹץ מֻנָד כֻּלָּהַם כִּי־לֹא בְיָד יִקָּחוּ׃ וְאִישׁ יִגַּע בָּהֶם יִמָּלֵא בַרְזֶל וְעֵץ חֲנִית וּבָאֵשׁ שָׂרוֹף יִשָּׂרְפוּ בַּשָּׁבֶת׃

"Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse saith,
And the man who was raised on high saith,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
And his word was upon my tongue.
The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spake to me:
One that ruleth over men righteously,
That ruleth in the fear of God,
He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth,
A morning without clouds,
When the tender grass springeth out of the earth,
Through clear shining after rain.
Verily my house is not so with God;
Yet he hath, made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered, in all things, and sure:
For it is all my salvation, and all my desire,
Although he maketh it not to grow.
But the ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with the hand;
But the man that toucheth them
Must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear:
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place."
(II Sam. 23:1-7.)

In the preceding chapter we examined the early rays of messianic expectation as they appear in the Torah and in Hannah's Song of Praise (I Sam. 2:1-10). We learned that the community of the godly was through those early centuries animated and spurred onward by this divinely inspired hope. These predictions unfolded the truth that this coming world Ruler would be the seed of the woman in a special sense and that also He would be God in human form. Furthermore, we saw in Hannah's prediction that He for the first time was called Anointed or Messiah. When Samuel anointed Saul as king, immediately the people saw in him the realization of these ancient hopes. In their eyes he became the anointed of God. On account of his rebellion the Lord rejected him and chose David in his stead, whom Samuel anointed.

From that time to the death of Saul, David was constantly pursued and persecuted by the former. Upon the death of Saul David came forth from his haunts and began his rule in Hebron where he reigned for seven and one-half years. During this time there was continual war between the houses of Saul and of David. All the time David was waxing stronger and stronger, whereas Saul's house was becoming weaker and weaker. Finally, Abner, the famous general of the house of Saul, won for David the allegiance of the tribes that had been following the house of Saul. Then David became king of the nation. For the first time the tribes of the children of Israel could really be called a kingdom. Being intrenched in his own realm David began an aggressive campaign against his enemies. His conquests carried his standard to the banks of the Euphrates on the north and the River of Egypt on the south.

Since the divine Spirit had in David's early reign unfolded, without giving the particulars, the plan of God concerning the kingdom--only to the point of Messiah's complete conquests and reign over the nations, since he was the messiah from whom God had sworn that He would not withdraw His favor as He had done in the case of Saul, and since his statesmanship and decisive victories gave promise of far-reaching conquests, the king, together with his enthusiastic subjects, saw in himself the realization of the former messianic predictions. All in loving admiration gazed upon this anointed one as he swept onward from victory to victory. His kingdom was growing mightily. Commerce was thriving. Israel was rapidly taking her place beside the mighty empires of the world. Her king was becoming known as one of the great monarchs of the age. The eyes of his loyal subjects were dazzled by the radiance of his full-orbed glory.

Under such auspicious conditions and with only that portion of the revelation of God which had been given up to that time, what other conclusion could the average man draw than that David was the promised Messiah? The unfolding messianic ideal, like a magnificent building in the process of construction almost hidden by scaffolds, could not be clearly seen and properly evaluated. One cannot appreciate the beauty of a forest when he is in its depths. He must view it as a whole from some point of vantage in order to have the proper perspective. From such an eminence he can see clearly and enjoy fully its grandeur and its beauty. To judge David and his contemporaries by the full and complete revelation which we have today is to be illogical and to do them an injustice. Had we been in their position, we would have thought and acted as they did in regard to this matter.

In this connection one might wonder why God had not given sufficient details relative to this most important doctrine in order that no one might draw erroneous conclusions. In reply I wish to call attention to several facts. In the first place, the early predictions made to the patriarchs were, as we have already seen, clear and definite. Had the fathers in Israel read, as the Lord instructed them to do, the Torah to their families night and morning with an eye focused upon knowing and doing the will of God, they never would have drawn false conclusions. In the second place, Israel constantly lapsed into idolatry and departed from the pure worship of God. Sin, like a cataract, always blinds the eyes. In the third place, to drift from the past and to desire something new is human. To this rule Israel was no exception. Someone has well said that each generation needs a reformation. All peoples are prone to follow traditions. In all probability the real meaning of those predictions had, by David's time, become obscure under the accumulated dust of traditions. In the fourth place, David's phenomenal rise to power was so very spectacular that his contemporaries were, even by his quickly fading glory, blinded to the former predictions. Thus the earlier prophecies ceased to grip the heart of the nation whose interest had been drawn largely to the material things of the moment. To forget the past and to become totally absorbed with the present is a dominant human trait. Finally, the messianic ideal, which had been transferred from Saul to David, had not as yet been detached from his person. Hence to his contemporaries under the peculiar and gripping circumstances of the time, he appeared to be the fulfillment of the messianic hope.

Closely associated with the question discussed in the preceding paragraph is one concerning David's understanding of his position and relation to the future Messiah. Did he think that he was the fulfillment of the former predictions and that he would establish a universal empire and bring peace to a war-ridden world? It will be impossible to give a dogmatic answer; nevertheless there are several considerations which make probability advance appreciably toward certainty. In the first place, let us recognize the fact that the prophets were inspired only on those occasions when the Lord wished to communicate a message to His people. When they desired, however, to know the will of God on some point, they would go to Him in prayer. He always answered. Apart from such occasions they had to rely upon their normal faculties. Hence they, like other men, could make mistakes. We have already seen an illustration of this fact in the case of Nathan who at first advised David to build the house of the Lord but later had to correct his humanly given advice. It is quite possible that David, when the divine Spirit was not inspiring him, may have shared the popular opinion concerning himself. On the other hand, when he was inspired, he spoke as the representative of God. Frequently the prophets impersonated the Lord and spoke as if they were He. For example, see Isaiah 48:12-16.

In the second place, David was a type of the Messiah. This fact is an application of a generally recognized pedagogical law. According to psychologists, a large amount of our information is received through the eye,--some estimates running as high as eighty-five or ninety per cent. Visual education is coming more and more into general recognition. Especially is this method adapted to the education of children. It is not surprising that the Lord used it in teaching His ancient people concerning Him who is the goal of their history. A glance at his psalms in general shows that David spoke of himself as if he were the Messiah. Upon closer examination of many of them it becomes apparent that he gave expression to quite a few utterances which in no sense could apply to himself but only to Messiah. Therefore David in his early sufferings and later in his sweeping conquests and glory served as a type or model of Messiah's sufferings and glory. His life and reign were pictures, though often exceedingly marred by sins and human failures, of Messiah and His kingdom from which Israel could gather some definite idea of her future great King. This picture method was used by the Lord in instructing His people and in preparing them for the more advanced teachings which He later gave through the prophets. Therefore we can see the Lord's wisdom in allowing the messianic ideal to settle down temporarily upon the person of David.

During the period before the messianic ideal was detached from David's person, he composed quite a number of psalms in which he spoke of himself as the Messiah and of his doing the things that Messiah alone can do. For example, in Psalm 22 he started with his own experiences and in a very short time began to relate certain events which by far surpassed anything that had come into his life. Thus from his greatly circumscribed experiences he swept out into a large circle of life which only Messiah, whom he typified, can traverse. The same thing is true of Psalm 20 with its complement, Psalm 21. The situation presupposed in these two poems is similar to that of II Chronicles 20. Psalm 69 is another fine illustration of this type of composition.* These will suffice to clarify the point.

In the third place, let it be recognized that God chose a man after His own heart to become the type of Messiah. David was doubtless one of the most righteous and best men of his day, if not the best. He longed for God as few people have ever done. His whole desire was to please God. Hence he was a fitting type of Messiah. Nevertheless he made certain very great blunders and committed a series of diabolical sins. Consequently he was the target of Satan's special attacks. His reign was marred by grave imperfections. Divine wisdom chose such a righteous character as he was to demonstrate to the world that even the best man fails and that, if he comes short of administering justice and righteousness, it is certain that there can be no such thing as an ideal and righteous government administered by man. Human nature is frail and cannot be relied upon. By David's miserable failure in the moral realm the Lord showed that the heart is deceitful above all things and that there is no foretelling what man may do under certain conditions (Jer. 17:9). Hence in allowing the messianic ideal to be associated with the person of David the Lord not only gave Israel a limited and imperfect illustration of the messianic kingdom but also demonstrated the absolute necessity for a Messiah and a Deliverer who is man but more than man, namely, the God-man.

After God had thoroughly taught Israel her object lesson concerning the future kingdom, the time came for Him to enlighten the people by revealing the typical character of David's reign. The occasion of His making this further disclosure was the king's sin with Bath-sheba and his series of wicked attempts to conceal his iniquity. These outrageous crimes awakened in the king's soul a consciousness of his utter failure as a true representative of God and as the under-shepherd of Israel, foreshadowing her Great Shepherd. By his sins the nation was rudely shocked and was brought to a realization of the impotence of its beloved ruler. Professor Delitzsch, in commenting on Psalm 110, has put this truth in so forceful a manner that I wish to give the same quotation which I have used elsewhere.

"The war with the Ammonites and their allies, the greatest, longest and most glorious of David's wars, ended in the second year, when David himself joined the army, with the conquest of Rabbah. This typical back-ground of the prophetical purport of the Psalm is to be recognized. The spirit of prophecy makes David behold from the brighter aspects of his own kingship the glory of the second David. In relation to this King of the future David is not king, but subject. He gives Him the same name as the people give himself, viz. אֲדֹנָי. Having come down from his throne, he looks up to the coming One. He too sits enthroned on Zion. He too is victorious from out of it. But His fellowship with God is the closest conceivable, and even the last enemy is laid at His feet. And He is not merely a king, who in priestly fashion provides for the salvation of His people; He is an eternal priest in virtue of a sworn promise. The Psalm is therefore future-historical upon a typical background. We can also explain why it is that the victory gained over Ammon and the image of the Messiah have thus for David detached themselves from his person. In the midst of that war occurs the sin of David, which embittered the whole of his after life and which laid his typical glory in ashes. Out of these ashes the phoenix of Messianic prophecy here arises. The type, come to the consciousness of himself, here lays down his crown at the feet of the Antitype."--Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. Ill, p. 164

After the messianic ideal had been detached from the person of David, the Spirit of God gave a fuller revelation through the psalmist concerning this great future Messiah. This oracle is found in Psalm 110. In it David clearly distinguished between himself and Messiah. He recognized that this one was his superior and spoke of Him as Lord.


Footnotes:

* If the higher destructive critics would only recognize this type of psalm and place such writings in the time before the messianic ideal was torn from the person of David, they would see that the superscriptions connected with certain ones tell the correct story. When the facts are allowed an opportunity of giving their testimony, it is seen they give a truthful answer.

(Continued on next page)