When Israel walked away from God’s law and God as their King, they became their own kings, their own law. They made decisions based on whatever they desired. They decided which laws they would keep and which laws they would break. “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 21:25 NIV). This is why Israel went through such cycles of disobedience and disaster throughout the Book of Judges. When the consequences were too heavy, they would cry out to God for rescue. When He sent them a deliverer, they were faithful to God again for a time, but it never lasted.
Samuel was a prophet that God sent to His people at the end of the period of judges. The Israelites came to him and begged him to name a king. He asked them if they were sure – kings would raise taxes, kings would raise armies, kings would take their daughters. But Israel wanted to be like the rest of the nations in the world, who were mostly ruled by kings at the time.
In 1050 BC, God relented and let Samuel appoint them a king. He named Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, as the first King of Israel. The people wanted Saul for their king because he was tall, dark, and handsome. They thought he looked the part. Saul ruled for 40 years. He had a lot of potential to be a good king, but he also had deep insecurities. He ended up disobeying God, and it cost him his throne.
In 1010 BC, David became the King of Israel. David was the most beloved, most well-known king that Israel had. He had a quintessential rags-to-riches story, rising from a lowly shepherd all the way to the throne. He was a warrior and a poet. Most importantly, God placed David on the throne because he was “a man after his own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 NIV).
After becoming King, David led the nation to great success and prosperity. In his personal life, though, things were about to unravel.
David wanted to honor God for all He had done for him. He decided to build a temple to replace the portable tabernacle that the Israelites had used to worship God since the days of Moses. God instructed the prophet Nathan to tell him to not build the temple, however. God had something different in mind.
“When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-16 NIV)
This promise God made to David is second only to the one He made to Abraham. You might be wondering where the unraveling would come. David was a man after God’s own heart to the extent that God promised him this eternal dynasty for his house. But David was not immune to failure. David went out on his balcony and saw a woman taking a bath. He found out that she was Bathsheba, and she was already married. He pursued her anyways and killed her husband, Uriah, so he could be with her. This “man after God’s own heart” murdered someone over a pretty face.
This is what we see in the Bible over and over. People make terrible decisions, but God loves them anyway. God made His promise to David before he did what he did, but more importantly, God made that promise knowing that David would do what he did. God’s grace is greater than our guilt, and God’s forgiveness is greater than our failure. David repented of his sin and God forgave him. It was that simple for him then, and it is that simple for us now.
No doubt David believed God’s promise would be fulfilled in his son, Solomon. Solomon would indeed lead Israel to new heights of prosperity and build a Temple the likes of which the world had never seen. But despite this success, Solomon was also a flawed man. God’s promise to David took centuries to be fulfilled.
On the very first Christmas, God kept His promise when Jesus was born in Bethlehem – not the earthly king Israel had expected but the heavenly king they needed most. God did bring this king from David’s lineage, as He had promised. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is called the Son of David (Matthew 1:1 NIV). Luke records that Jesus’ earthly father was Joseph, “a descendant of David” (Luke 1:27 NIV). Jesus’ mother Mary praised God, saying He had “raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old” (Luke 1:68-70 ESV). Finally, as the Scriptures close, Jesus reminded us all who He is, saying “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16 ESV).
When Jesus ultimately comes again, He will sit upon the throne of His father David and will rule over a Kingdom that will never end. God promised it would be so, and God always keeps His promises.
