After breaking down the David Covent into seven parts, we take a step back out to look at the Covenant holistically and its significance. I will include the Bible quotation of the Davidic Covenant for reference below as we look at concluding The Davidic Covenant.
“5 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ 8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to beover My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house.” 12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ” – 2 Samuel 7:5-16 (NKJV)
David’s Heart
In Parts 1-4, the heart of David was the differentiating factor. It is clear that David is a man after God’s own heart as describe in 1 Sam 13:14 and Acts 13:22. David’s heart was tested through his walk and history with God, even in times of rest He remembered God. As I observed in Part 1, the Davidic Covenant was not a motivation or encouragement to David. It is a progression of intimacy with God that both God and David converge in the “seed” promised in the covenant.
The Linchpin
It is established that the seed referred to in the Davidic Covenant refers to Jesus Christ. We see the coming together of the Kingdom of David and the Kingdom of God together in Part 7 through the seed, Jesus Christ as well.
We quoted some theologians in Part 1 and I will include them here again.
- Ronald Youngblood’s understand is that 2 Samuel 7 is “the center and focus of . . . the Deuteronomic history itself.”
- Walter Brueggemann regards it as the “dramatic and theological center of the entire Samuel corpus” and as “the most crucial theological statement in the Old Testament.”
- Robert Gordon called this chapter the “ideological summit . . . in the Old Testament as a whole.”
There is no question about the significance of the Davidic Covenant in the Old Testament. Through this simple study of the Davidic Covenant, I will like to propose that the Davidic Covenant’s importance goes beyond the Old Testament. Instead, it holds the Old Testament with the New, and all the covenants in the Old Testament with the New Covenant with Jesus Christ.
The image of a linchpin comes to mind when looking at the Davidic Covenant. A linchpin is “an important part of anything, the thing that holds it all together“. The Davidic Covenant gives meaning and depth to Jesus’ identity as the Son of David that are often times mentioned in the New Testament, even in Revelation. In the macro scheme of things, it is unthinkable that the God of this Universe will go through so much pain and details to salvage a creation that self-destructs. Yet He did and is still doing. We are living in this right now.
