As modern Christians, we generally do not think much about the House of David and the House of God as related entities. Perhaps because the House of David perceived as an Old Testament concept, more in relation to the nation of Israel. The Scriptural passages of 2 Samuel 7:8-29 and Mark 3:20-35 can help us understand how this Old Testament Israel King’s house is of importance to our current faith in Christ Jesus.
Jesus is at Home (Mark 3:20-35)
I will start with the Mark passage in the New Testament. I love the opening of this passage, “And He came home.” There is no mention of which house was home for Jesus, but Jesus was HOME. It was in this context that Jesus addressed the accusation of Him operating under the power of Beelzebul. Jesus started by establishing the importance of unity in a kingdom, whether of Satan or of God. He quickly shifted from unity to the focus of a strong man in the house. The assumption here is that the unity of a house is held by the strong man. This is rather true as I can see often how the death of a patriach/matriach in a family can affect the family’s unity even in our current days. Jesus gave the best tip in how to bring down a house, that is to first take down the strong man. Simple strategy!
The Strong Man
Jesus seemed to be jumping from a topic to another very quickly. Suddenly from strong man, He talked about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In closer examination, Jesus was still on the same train of thought. The Holy Spirit keeps the unity of the Kingdom of God (Ephesians 4:3). The Holy Spirit is the strong man in God’s house. The Scribes were trying to bind the strong man in the Kingdom of God by discrediting the strong man in the house of God, i.e. the Holy Spirit. I love how Jesus indirectly implied the Scribes’ intent to rob God’s House in their attempt to stop the Holy Spirit. It is obvious that the Scribes were unsuccessful in this attempt. Instead they hurled on themselves an unforgivable sin for eternal condemnation.
Mark did not stop at this victory of Jesus. The timely arrival of Jesus’ mother and brothers provided opportunity to further illustrate this object lesson. Jesus’ question of “Who are My Mother and My brothers?” sounded unfiliel taken outside of this context. In fact, He did not deny the blood ties He had with His mother and brothers. He extended the definition and boundaries of His family. In fact Jesus was home without his natural family at the beginning of this passage. His rhetorical rebutal to the Scribes regarding kingdom and house highlighted the importance of unity. Jesus concluded His lesson that the unity in the house of God is in doing the will of God. Unity through obedience is the mark of God’s family.
The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-29)
Let’s now dive into this Old Testament passage now that narrates God’s response to King David’s desire to build God a house on earth. This passage seems unrelated to the Mark passage before. The focus verses are verses 12-16, which is known as the Davidic Covenant.
“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 Sam 7:12-16 (NASB, emphasis mine)
The Genealogy of King David to Jesus
While talking about the House of God and the House of David, there is an important geneology we cannot miss in Matthew 1:1-17. The symmetry of the three fourteen generations accounted (verse 17) for this genealogy shows that it is an intentional planned design and not a random occurance. This is the evidence of the outworking of the Davidic covenant God made in 2 Sam 7:12-16, and also to Abraham which is not in discussion here. It is commonly known that Jesus is the son of David, but let’s go deeper to understand the significance of this blood tie that God holds it .
A significant event or person is marked by the fourteenth generation – from Abraham to David, from David to Babylonion exile, from Babyonion exile to the coming of the Messiah Jesus. There is such a poetic pattern found in this genealogy, from patriach (Abraham) to king (David), slavery (Babylon) to saviour (Messiah). As you can see, a pattern is emerging. God chose the house of David and made it a kingdom. God allowed slavery as judgement so that salvation can come.
Kingdom Forever
The significance of the Davidic Covenant can be seen in two folds, the house and the kingdom. Using the before and after examination, we can see the impact of the Davidic covenant.
The House of David and the House of God
The House of David referred to here is not a physical building to live in. The House of David in the Bible refers to the lineage and descendents of David, i.e. the family of David. David is a mere man just like his predecesors like Abraham. The phrases “He shall build a house for my name” and “I will be a father to him” are indication that God has adopted David’s family to be His. Adoption is not a new concept in modern day Christianity as we are all adopted as sons and daughters of the most High God. Yet, in the Old Testament, this is unthinkable. Even in the New Testament, Jesus calling God His Father was considered a blasphemy worthy of death to the religious (John 5:18). Here we see a coming together of David’s family into God – a natural earthly with the spiritual heavenly as one. This covenant prepares the way for the son of God to become the son of Man.
The Kingdom of David and the Kingdom of God
The second impact was on the kingdom. David’s kingdom was in Israel, not the world, even in its greatest under King Solomon. It was a small kingdom here on earth amidst many kingdoms. Such kingdoms rise and fall and the kingdom of David no longer exists. It is interesting that the genealogy included the Babylonion exile as a key event, showing that the fall of the kingdom of David is not a surprise to God. In fact, this is a process of translating the physical kingdom of David into a spiritual kingdom of God – from slave to savior. The beauty of this transformation is one of eternity.
Conclusion
With the emphasis on individualism, it is hard for many of us to think beyond our nuclear family of perhaps three generations. It is Biblical to view the extended family, those of the past, present and future with one calling, and yet each person also has a more specific appointment and assignment from God. We often consider our Christian faith is based on the New Covenant found in the New Testament. From these few Bible passages, we can see that the New Covenant was set in motion by the Davidic Covenant. The House of God we know now started with the house of David, an archetype.
