GEMS FROM JEREMIAH (13) “Breaking David: The Life & Times of Jeremiah”, part VII

 


“Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you;

and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 

And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more…

Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body…

He shall build a house for my name,

and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me… Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7.8-16)

 

     This is known as the Davidic covenant – God’s promise that there would always be a descendant of David on the throne of Jerusalem, forever.  It repeats the key features of God’s covenant with Abraham, which “gave birth to” the people of God (cf. Gn. 12.1-3).  God promises David three things: a great name, that Israel will be “planted” securely (cf. Jer. 1.10) in the Promised Land, and an everlasting line of descendants upon his throne (2 Sm. 7.8-13).  The wider context – and play on words – is that David had recently expressed his desire to the prophet Nathan to construct a “house” (i.e., Temple) for Yahweh (2 Sm. 7.1-3).  God replies that, in fact, he will construct a “house” (i.e., dynasty) for David, and that David’s son (Solomon) will be the one to construct God’s house/Temple (7.11-13; cf. 1 Kings 1-8).[1]  Indeed, God’s renown is tied up with the renown of David and his dynasty (7.26).  To the extent that the dynasty thrives, Yahweh will be seen to be great, the One who empowers/protects his king(s).[2]  Indeed, the one who ruled from Jerusalem was Yahweh’s viceroy on earth, and Yahweh ruled his people through his “anointed”, and would one day, promised the Psalms, rule all the nations through the king of Israel (cf. Ps. 2).

     Almost four centuries after David, and as his brother and his nephew had done before him, Zedekiah rebels in 589 B.C. and refuses to pay the tribute to Nebuchadrezzar (cf. 2 Kgs 24.20).  Predictably enough, the Babylonian forces arrive and begin a 2-year-long siege of Jerusalem.  During this time, Jeremiah is imprisoned for predicting that the city will fall to the enemy (Jer. 32.1-5).  As Jeremiah sits in his cell, having predicted the downfall of the last descendant of David to rule from Jerusalem (i.e., Zedekiah), he prophesies about a future “branch of David”, a true king who will rule justly (i.e., the Messiah: Jer. 33.14-18).  In a prophecy brimming with hope, Jeremiah deploys deeply poetic language which evokes God’s covenant with day and night, with Abraham and with David (33.19-22; cf. Gn. 15.5; 22.17; 2 Sm. 7).  No matter how horrific the imminent judgment is going to be, there is a future restoration awaiting the people of God on the far side of defeat, destruction, and deportation.  Yahweh, through Jeremiah, promises to restore the fortunes of Israel and Judah, and to have mercy upon them (Jer. 33.26).  Of course, just who this future “son of David” would be was anyone’s guess…


[1] David was the exemplary king, the standard against which all subsequent monarchs of Judah were judged.  The last time that David is mentioned in the 4-volume Books of Kingdoms is 2 Kings 22.2: “(Josiah) did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (cf. Joshua 1.7).  After this point, it’s a downward slide into disaster…

[2] Waltke, Bruce K.  An Old Testament Theology, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007, p. 661.  God’s covenant-partners are always in peril.  In the case of Abraham, his wife and the wives of his son/grandson were all sterile until God miraculously intervened to enable them to conceive and give birth, thus beginning to fulfill his promise of many descendants (cf. Gn. 12-30).  God’s promise to David was put to the test (for a first time) in the mid-9th-century B.C., when the royal family was massacred, leaving only baby Joash alive, who was crowned king of Judah at the age of six (2 Kings 11.4-12): cf. Ibid., pp. 731-32.

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