'Appreciating God's Love'
3 Covenants Concerning Kings
1. God Would Not Interfere
I Sam 8:11,18 And he said, "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day."
Since the Israelites had rejected God as their King, God would respect their freewill and would not interfere even if the kings they had chosen were taskmasters and ill-treat them.
2. Descendants on the Throne
I Sam 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever."
God promised that if King Saul (later to King David) had kept His commandments while he ruled the Israelites, his descendants would forever be on the throne.
King Saul failed, but King David (after his repentance) succeeded in keeping the commandments of God. So God promised King David that his descendants will forever be on the throne of Israel.
I Kin 9:4-5 "Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'"
God's Forgiveness of sins
Isa 43:25 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."
Brethren, just like King David, at the true repentance of our sins, God will forgive us and will no longer remember our sins.
3. Kingdom of Israel Torn Away
I Kin 9:6-7 But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples."
God's Covenant with King Saul, King David and King Solomon was the same, that if any of them kept his laws and commandments, his descendants would always sit on the throne of Israel.
However, if he rebelled against God's commandments, God would removed him and his descendents from being king of Israel.
King Saul failed miserably in keeping His commandments so God took away the kingdom of Israel and gave it to King David and his descendents.
Though God loved King Solomon, yet because of Solomon's disobedience, God had to be faithful to His word and tore the Kingdom of Israel from Solomon and his descendents.
I Kin 11:11-12 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
Note God is always faithful to His words and promises. So keep His words and enjoy His promises.
Great Wisdom of God
I Kin 11:13 "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."
To fulfill both covenants, God broke up the Kingdom of Israel into two kingdoms.
1. The Kingdom of Judah ruled by David's descendents.
2. The Kingdom of Israel torn away and ruled by other Israelites.
David's Eternal Kingdom
I Kin 9:4-5 Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
God kept His word to King David that as long as there was the Israeli kingdom, his descendants would sit on the throne. This was fulfilled by the descendants of David ruling over the kingdom of Judah until its annihilation by the Babylonians.
Our Lord Jesus was from Mary the descendent of Nathan, the son of David in Luke 3:23-31. And from the adopted paternal side Joseph, the descendent of Solomon, the son of David in Mat 1:1-16.
The eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus will finally be established on the New Earth. Since our Lord Jesus was the descendent of King David, then this will the fulfillment of the everlasting kingdom of King David.
Isaiah 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."
Note Trust and love our Lord Jesus Christ by keeping His words and commandments.
