A Lenten Bible Study: Genesis to Jesus Lesson Nine: Rise of the Covenant Kingdom
This is the ninth lesson in the Saint Paul Center for Catholic Biblical Theology's Lenten Scripture study, Genesis to Jesus. Follow along, and by the end of Lent, you'll understand the importance of Easter in light of God's plan for our salvation. Sign up to receive new video lessons [here] and buy related study materials.
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In our last lesson, we concluded our discussion of God’s covenant with Moses. We learned about all the amazing parallels between the life of Moses and that of Jesus Christ. Our consideration took us to the end of the Book of Exodus, and through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In this lesson, we will spend most of our time in 1st and 2nd Samuel, focusing on the rise and fall of Israel’s first king, Saul. And how Israel becomes a great kingdom under the leadership of David. This Davidic Kingdom is more than just a political reality. It is actually the means by which God includes other nations, not just the Israelites, in his covenant family.
When we last left the Israelites, they had failed to trust God yet again. For their punishment, God condemned them to wander through the desert for forty years. Those forty years would eventually pass. Shortly after the death of Moses, Joshua brings the second generation of Israelites into the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the land is already inhabited.
Before the Israelites can comfortably settle down, Joshua has to lead them in a series of battles to take back the land as their inheritance. As promised, God gives them victory. Joshua then divides up the land they’ve conquered and allots it to Israel’s tribes. Not surprisingly, the Canaanites who were living there weren’t happy with this new arrangement. Despite the Israelites’ initial victories, the Canaanites continue to wage war on them for generations. To help the Israelites face these challenges, God gives them Judge – men and women especially anointed by him to lead the Israelites to victory over their enemies.
During the time of the Judges, the Israelites’ behavior can best be described as a cycle of disobedience. One or more of the tribes would become complacent about living according to the terms of the covenant. Disobedience would then be followed by defeat. As punishment for their infidelity, God would allow an enemy to humble the Israelites in battle. Then finally, deliverance would come. The Israelites would realize the error of their ways and cry out to God for help. In turn, God would send them a Judge to deliver them from their oppressors and then govern them, for a time, in peace. But only for a time, because eventually, the Israelites would disobey again, starting the cycle all over again.
Eventually, even the Israelites grow weary of this cycle. But the problem is, they don’t think they’re the problem. They think the issue is that they don’t have a king like all the other nations do. They go to Samuel, the last of the Judges, and demand that God give them a king. This is found in 1 Samuel 8:1-9:
8 “When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
Samuel does as the Lord says and then selects Saul as the first king of Israel. In 1 Samuel 10:1, Samuel anoints Saul as king, pouring a vial of oil on his head and announcing that the Lord has chosen him to save Israel from its enemies. In choosing Saul to be Israel’s king, God continues a pattern he established much earlier in salvation history, choosing the younger over the elder. Saul comes from the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe descended from the youngest of Israel’s twelve sons. By choosing a king from this particular tribe, God makes something clear. Any success that king has, any victories he achieves, are really the work of God and not of his own strength.
Saul is only marginally a man of God, and before long, he begins to do things his way, not God’s way. In 1 Samuel 13, a great battle is about to commence between the Israelites and the Philistines. But before Saul can lead the troops into battle, Samuel must offer sacrifices to God that all will go well. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Samuel does not arrive at the battlefield when he’s expected to. Rather than wait for the priest and prophet to arrive, Saul takes matters into his own hands. He offers sacrifices that were not his to make.
When Samuel finally does arrive, he lets Saul know that God is not pleased with the king. Because of Saul’s disobedience his sons will not inherit the throne. In other words, Saul’s pride has cost him a dynasty. Unfortunately, Saul doesn’t learn from this mistake. In fact, his pride only grows worse. In 1 Samuel 15, 1-3, 8-9, Saul is dealing with another enemy – the Amalekites, ancient terrorists. God, through Samuel, gives Saul a direct order. Saul is to smite all the Amalekites and destroy all of their livestock. But Saul decides to take the Amalekite king alive and save the best animals from being slaughtered. His excuse is that he wants to use those animals later as sacrifices to the Lord.
But God’s not buying it. In verses 20-23, he hears Saul’s excuses, and then tells him that he desires obedience rather than sacrifice. Saul’s punishment this time is even more serious. Not only will he lose his dynasty, but he will also lose his throne – his own right to rule as king over Israel. Sure enough, soon afterwards, God instructs Samuel to go to the house of a man named Jesse and anoint his youngest son, David, as the new king of Israel.
All of this is done without Saul knowing about it. For the time, Saul remains on his throne, although Scripture tells us that an evil spirit plagues him. Not long after Samuel anoints David, another huge threat to Israel arises. A great Philistine warrior named Goliath. David, unlike Saul, is full of God’s spirit. Led by that spirit, he steps forward and volunteers to face Goliath in mortal combat. Armed with only a sling shot and five smooth stones, David defeats the mighty warrior and claims the victory for God.
Saul is so impressed by the young David that he invites him to live with the royal family. He does this without knowing that David is now God’s anointed one, the one destined to replace him. While David lives with Saul’s family, he becomes close friends with Saul’s son Jonathan. Jonathan would have inherited the throne if his father had been more obedient. Eventually, Jonathan realized that David is the man God has chosen to lead Israel as king. But instead of being jealous about the loss of his birthright, Jonathan is at peace with God’s plan. Saul, on the other hand, is not. As soon as he realizes that David is God’s chosen one, he plots to kill the young man.
Out of respect for the office Saul still holds, David refuses to harm Saul even when he has the perfect opportunity. In fact, despite all Saul does to David in his quest to kill the young man, David’s love and respect for the royal family remains intact. Scripture tells us he mourns deeply when Saul and his sons all die at the hands of the Philistines. He even offers a permanent place in his home and at his table for Saul’s only living grandson, Mephibosheth.
After Saul’s death, the kingdom comes securely into David’s hands. But a secure kingdom is not what God is after. What does the Lord want? Moses had already explained God’s ultimate goal for Israel back in Deuteronomy 12:10-11:
10 “But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 11 Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord.”
In 2 Samuel 5, David fulfills the conditions of the Deuteronomic covenant when he defeats the last Canaanite stronghold – a city by the name of Jerusalem. And since Israel is now at rest from all its enemies, David wants to give God what he asked for in Deuteronomy – a place where his name can dwell and sacrifices can be offered. He wants to build a temple. But God has other plans.
In 2 Samuel 7, God makes a covenant with David. [See 2 Samuel 7:8-16]:
8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 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. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 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. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
The Three Meanings of “House” in 2 Second 7
- Family [2 Samuel 7:12]
- Dynasty [2 Samuel 7:13]
- Temple [2 Samuel 7:13]
In God’s covenant with David, we can see the Old Testament climax of the Lord’s plan for salvation history. The covenant has gone from a marriage to a household, to a tribe to a nation, and finally to a kingdom. More than a nation, it is now a small empire.
When we talk about the Davidic Kingdom, it’s important to understand that this particular kingdom is much more than a political entity. Through the Davidic Kingdom, God extends his covenant beyond Israel to other nations. If you think back to God’s covenant that he established through Moses at Mt. Sinai, you’ll recall that the Lord’s original plan for the Israelites was that they would be a kingdom of priests who would evangelize other nations. When the Israelites broke the covenant by worshipping the golden calf, they forfeited that special privilege. From that point on, only the Levites could serve God as priests.
But in 2 Samuel, when God makes his covenant with David, we see the Lord reminding Israel of what they were originally intended to be. Although David is of the tribe of Judah, not Levi, God establishes David on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem as a priest-king. And it is through David that Israel’s calling to lead the other nations to holiness is restored. Interestingly, even before God makes his covenant with him, David aspires to priestly service. 2 Samuel 6:14, 17-19:
14 “Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might… 17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a portion of meat and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.”
King David’s Levitical (Priestly) Actions
In the passage above, we see King David perform several symbolic actions, which are Levitical or priestly in nature. First, he wears a Levitical garment. Second, he brings the Ark of the Covenant – the chest that contained Israel’s holiest of relics and signified the presence of God among the Israelites – into Jerusalem. Third, he offers sacrifices. Fourth, he blesses the people in the name of the Lord. And finally, fifth, verse 19 tells us he feeds them bread, a portion of meat and a cake of raisins.
Why might this symbolize priestly activity? Some scholars believe the Hebrew word for “meat” in this verse is better translated as “wine.” If this interpretation is correct, it would appear that David distributed bread and wine, which all recognize as priestly. After God makes his covenant with David, David serves Israel as both priest and king. In 1 Chronicles 28:29, we learn that David received from God the pattern for the temple his son would build. He also gets the instructions for how Israel was to worship him in it.
David then sets about putting those instructions for worship into action. First, he organizes the duties of the Levites. Their old job was transporting the wilderness Tabernacle, but now David assigns them to minister before the Lord on Zion as singers, musicians, and gatekeepers. David also leads the procession of the Ark of the Covenant, and makes thank offerings which, as first prescribed in Leviticus, become a prominent part of Israel’s liturgical life during the time of David. This liturgical, priestly dimension to David’s kingship symbolizes God’s intended role for Israel – to be a royal nation of priests leading the peoples of the world to him. But it is also one of the many ways in which the Davidic Covenant is the prototype of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.
This connection between David and Jesus is made clear at the Annunciation, in the angel Gabriel’s description of Mary’s son. Compare that description with the key Davidic Covenant passages in 2 Samuel 7. In 2 Samuel 7:9, God promised to make for David a “great name,” in Luke 1, Gabriel promises Mary that “He [her son] will be great.” God says of David’s son [2 Samuel 7:14], “he shall be my son,” and the angel tells Mary [Luke 1:32] her son shall be “called Son of the Most High.” God swears David’s [2 Samuel 7:16] “thrown shall be established.” Gabriel says that God will give Jesus “the throne of his father David.” Finally, God tells David [2 Samuel 7:14], “your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.” Likewise, Gabriel tells Mary [Luke 1:33] that her son will “reign… forever.” There is a deep connection between the Davidic Kingdom, and the Kingdom of God that is to come – between the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.
In our next lesson, we will examine more parallels between the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant of Christ, by looking at the primary and secondary features of the Davidic Covenant. Doing so is going to help illuminate so much of what Christ says and does in the New Testament.
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