How did the Davidic covenant fulfill and expand God's second promise to Abraham?

Answer 1

Can you define what you mean by "second promise" to Abraham? Bible chapter and verse would be helpful. Thanks

ANSWER:

Most people have no idea that there is a "Davidic Covenant"... much less; what it might be. Or that God's two Promises to Abraham, 1) - "to make of him a great nation" and 2) - "that all the families [nations] of the earth would be blessed through his Seed" translate, first of all into a "material blessing" and a "spiritual blessing."

"...the LORD had said unto Abram, 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred... and I will make of thee A GREAT NATION, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and IN THEE SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED.'" (Gen.12:1-3 KJV)

For the first promise, it's common knowledge that material blessings [wealth, prosperity and power] that make people into great nations COMES OUT OF THE GROUND... or whatever the particular land yields on which a people lives. In other words... "wealth comes from the earth" [oil, diamonds, gold, rich farmland and abundant crops, etc].

The second promise, most people would recognize before the first promise [if they noticed the first promise at all]. This is the Promise of the Messiah, or the Christ... from whom Salvation and Eternal Life comes to light.

So, generally speaking... considering what little the world actually knows regarding the Promises of God to Abraham; not to mention certain other Truths of The Bible... the Promise of the Christ and Salvation may well be the ONLY PROMISE about which most people are half way aware.

Then there is the "Davidic Covenant":

"THE DAY WILL COME, says the LORD, when I will do for Israel AND Judah ALL THE GOOD I HAVE PROMISED THEM. AT THAT TIME I will BRING TO THE THRONE OF DAVID A RIGHTEOUS DESCENDANT, and He will do what is Just and Right throughout the land. In that Day Judah [the Jews] will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And their motto will be 'THE LORD IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!"

"For this is what the LORD says, 'DAVID WILL FOREVER HAVE A DESCENDANT SITTING ON THE THRONE OF ISRAEL.'" (Jer.33:14-17 NLT New Living Translation)

It is understood by most that the "Righteous Descendant" who will save Israel and Judah is the prophesied Messiah... who is Jesus Christ [the WORD; the Almighty Creator God of the Old Testament - see John 1:1-3]

Those few in the world who know and understand that Christ's throne is NOT IN HEAVEN [His FATHER's throne is there]... but ON EARTH, know that it's DAVID's throne that the Messiah has inherited... and will take over when He returns to the earth in Power and Glory.

"You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name Him JESUS. He will be very Great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the LORD will give Him THE THRONE OF HIS ANCESTOR DAVID." (Luke 1:31-32 NLT)

"...the GOVERNMENT will rest ON HIS SHOULDERS... His ever-expanding, Peaceful Government [Kingdom] WILL NEVER END. He will rule forever with Fairness and Justice from THE THRONE OF HIS ANCESTOR DAVID. The passionate commitment of the LORD Almighty will guarantee this!" (Isa.9:6-7 NLT)

So, there it is... the "Davidic Covenant."

But this world is very sloppy in its understanding [mostly, rejection and disbelief] of what God is promising.

Not only that Christ will take over the throne of David and rule the earth; that's what some small part of the world has heard repeated -- and rejects. But this same small part of the world doesn't seem to know or understand that in order for Christ to take over David's throne upon His return with Power and Glory: HE HAS TO HAVE AN EXISTING THRONE ON THE EARTH TO TAKE OVER!

And that throne apparently disappeared way back when the Jews went into Babylonian captivity under the auspices of the prophet Jeremiah. David's royal descendants were either KILLED OR CAPTURED by the Babylonians... and those who went into captivity with the rest of the Jews DIED IN CAPTIVITY... and the visible throne of David NEVER RETURNED or was reestablished in Jerusalem when the Jews returned to their land.

This blinded and deceived world, of course, couldn't care less about this; but God's almighty Power, Sovereignty, Honor and Integrity was and is at stake with this little known and understood development that seemingly disrupted God's Promise.

Even among the hundreds of denominations of modern professing Christians [and even the Jews]... you won't find very many [if any] folks wondering where David's throne is on this earth for Christ to claim it for Himself and from which He shall RULE THE EARTH when He comes back!

That's because none of them stop to know or understand what JEREMIAH'S COMMISSION was. What job God gave Jeremiah to do:

" '...Before you were born I set you apart [sanctified you] and appointed you as My spokesman to the world.' [not just to the Jews, but TO THE WORLD!]... 'for you must go WHEREVER I SEND YOU and say whatever I tell you...' 'Today I appoint you to stand up against NATIONS and KINGDOMS. You are to UPROOT SOME and TEAR THEM DOWN, to DESTROY and OVERTHROW them. You are to BUILD OTHERS UP and PLANT them.'" (Jer.1:5-10 NLT)

A small part of the world is somewhat acquainted with Jeremiah's biblical part in the "uprooting" of David's throne from Jerusalem... and his prediction of the "destruction" of it by the Babylonian empire. It was under Jeremiah's commission by God that David's throne was uprooted and overthrown... which was PART ONE of his commission.

David's throne DISAPPEARED FROM THE EARTH... apparently. But, then... if anyone would bother to notice at the end of his book -- SO DID JEREMIAH! Both David's throne and God's prophet vanished before Jeremiah completed the SECOND PART of his commission -- the BUILDING and REPLANTING of David's throne elsewhere in the world -- IN ISRAEL!

Jeremiah first went to Mizpah where THE KING'S DAUGHTERS were! The Jewish king and his sons had been captured and killed, respectively, and David's throne was uprooted and destroyed from Jerusalem. Jeremiah had COMPLETED THE FIRST PART OF HIS COMMISSION!

So, now, he had to REPLANT and BUILD David's throne somewhere else. IN ISRAEL... not in Judah.

Notice the covenant again. It was NOT with the JEWS whose throne David would never be wanting for a man to sit. It was ISRAEL!

" 'DAVID WILL FOREVER HAVE A DESCENDANT SITTING ON THE THRONE OF ISRAEL.'"

Once again, the world is ignorant of the fact that the name "Israel" was NEVER named on the Jews, the tribe of Judah -- but on the tribe of JOSEPH!

Joseph's father, Jacob [whose name was changed to Israel] said to his beloved son on his deathbed, regarding Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh:

"...he [Israel] blessed Joseph, and said, 'God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, BLESS THE LADS; [bless the descendants of Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh] and LET MY NAME BE NAMED ON THEM, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." (Gen.48:15-16 KJV)

Joseph, on whom the name "Israel" is named, prophetically, was NOT A JEW! The tribe of JUDAH are the JEWS [Jew is merely a shortening or nickname for Judah]. One tribe out of all of the twelve tribes are Jews. That means that the majority of the tribes of Israel are NOT JEWS!

And this is a significant distinction of which the world remains utterly ignorant to this day. And it's KEY to understanding WHERE Jeremiah and the king's daughters disappeared after his book ends in the Bible.

But it's also an involved study that would make this already long answer longer.

So, let's just cut it short, here, for the sake of the answer to the question by saying:

"God's continuing, ongoing fulfillment of the 'Davidic Covenant' [since Jeremiah's disappearance into history] expands God's Second Promise [of the Christ and Salvation] to Abraham" by "PROVIDING THIS DECEIVED AND SPIRITUALLY BLINDED WORLD WITH THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF DAVID'S THRONE IN THE BLESSED NATION OF ISRAEL'S [Joseph's] DESCENDANTS" [hint: look in London, England; the descendants of Ephraim, for the transplanted Jewish royal descendants of David]. There the world may see the continuing throne of David which Jesus Christ will take over upon His return to earth. Which will ultimately fulfill BOTH of God's Promises to Abraham... the NATIONAL one as well as the SPIRITUAL one.

For those TWO PROMISES ultimately translate into the GOSPEL MESSAGE of the Bible: the message of the Good News of the KINGDOM [Government] OF GOD, which Christ THE KING will establish upon planet earth when He returns; along with HIS SALVATION OF ALL THE NATIONS [families] of the earth at the same time.

Answer 2

God's covenant with King David is mentioned in Psalms 89, in which God promises that David will father a line of kings. Since these were righteous descendants of Abraham and would rule over the land of Israel, this covenant is a fulfillment of one of God's promises to Abraham (Genesis ch.15 and 17), that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan (Israel).