Monday, January 3
An interesting concept of the Old Testament theology is that the promised Davidic King would represent the nation before God.
Compare Exodus 4:22, 23 with 2 Samuel 7:12-14; Deuteronomy 12:8-10 with 2 Samuel 7:9-11; and Deuteronomy 12:13, 14 with Psalms 132:1-5, 11-14. What promises to Israel would be fulfilled through the promised Davidic King?
Israel was God’s son, and God would give them a place where they would rest from their enemies. God would also choose a place among them where His name would dwell. These promises for Israel would now be fulfilled through the promised Davidic King. He would be adopted as God’s son, God would give him rest from his enemies, and he would build a temple for God in Zion where God’s name would dwell. This means that God would fulfill His promises to Israel through the promised Davidic king. The Davidic King would represent Israel before God.
The insertion of a representative in the relationship between God and Israel made the perpetuation of their covenantal relationship possible. The Mosaic covenant required the faithfulness of all Israel to receive God’s protection and blessings (see Joshua 7:1-13). The Davidic covenant, however, secured God’s covenantal blessings upon Israel through the faithfulness of one person, the Davidic King.
Unfortunately, for the most part the Davidic kings were not faithful, and God could not bless Israel as He wanted. The Old Testament is filled with accounts of just how unfaithful many of those kings actually were.
The good news is that God sent His Son to be born as the Son of David, and He has been perfectly faithful. Therefore, God is able to fulfill in Him all the promises He made to His people. When God blesses the king, all his people share in the benefits. This is why Jesus is the Mediator of God’s blessing to us. He is the Mediator in that He is the channel through whom God’s blessing flows. Our ultimate hope of salvation is found only in Jesus and what He has done for us.
Think about how often you have been unfaithful to your end of the covenant. What does this teach us about how we must rely solely on Jesus for salvation?
