All too often, we Christians want to complicate Christianity. We come up with rules we think must govern what it means to be a Christian. We make up rituals and rites and all manner of complication that have nothing to do with the Christian life.

It is our purpose in this series to cut through all the rituals and rules and expose the true essence of Christianity. Hopefully, by the time this series is complete, everyone reading it will see how truly simple Christianity is.

If you have not read the earlier posts on this subject, find the “Categories” list in the right-hand column of this page and click on “Christianity 101.” This will pull up all the previous posts so you can read through them in order.

This week’s study is the Davidic Covenant. It is contained both in the 7th Chapter of 2 Samuel and in the 17th Chapter of 1 Chronicles. The actual text of these two passages involves so many words you probably wouldn’t want to read them all, so I’ll skip that and just discuss the meaning of it.

This covenant was established soon after David became king. He wanted to build a house for God, but God built one for him instead. He told David his son would build Him a Temple.

God promised David that his family would reign in Jerusalem forever, which may sound a bit strange at first glance. He also told David He would never turn His back on him as he did on Saul.

History shows that since the Babylonian captivity, no king of David’s lineage has been crowned in Jerusalem except Jesus, and He was mockingly crowned by Roman soldiers, so what’s up with this promise? The promise is centered on Jesus, Who is of David’s lineage. This promise will not be fulfilled until Jesus returns to set up His millennial kingdom.

Of course, the part about the temple was fulfilled by Solomon. He built it and housed the Ark of the Covenant in it.

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Mary, he confirmed this covenant God made with David. Luke 1 records it as follows:

32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

33. and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.

Once again, we have a covenant God made some 3,000 years ago with one of our forefathers which gives us reason to feel secure and to trust God. The writers God anointed to write 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles couldn’t have known Solomon would build the temple. They wrote what God directed them to write, and He, of course, did know. They also couldn’t have known what God meant by an eternal kingdom, but subsequent events and writing have shown us exactly what He meant.

Such demonstrations of God’s foreknowledge are very comforting to me and make me feel very secure in Him. How do you feel about this?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

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Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.