Christmas 2018 Of the House of David
Hello this is Eric again. A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?” So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.
(Read the previous blogs here)
Isn’t it fascinating to watch people during the Christmas season. Oh, I’m not just talking about the folks in the stores—although they offer a rich set of material for future illustrations. I’m truly fascinated watching leaders during the Christmas season—especially those in politics.
For most of the year I watch politicians as they navigate the minefield of their arena’s, looking for ways to engage and influence for and with those around them. There are the party line’s that need to be pushed for; and, the personal projects that they promised to honor when elected. There are the obligatory talking head moments, and the negotiating while connecting with others who may or may not hold to their points of view. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:1-6,
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.”
Paul is training up Timothy, a young pastor in the church, and here is instructing Timothy how to engage leadership culture prayerfully—and we should too! I know how challenging leading in the church is, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to serve as a politician—and we certainly want to live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity—don’t we…
We don’t always choose to live with godliness and dignity do we? We follow those who lead us, and over time; we begin to act, talk, and think—like them. That’s a scary thought. (A more terrifying thought, "Who is leading us?"),
Israel had this problem 'In spades.' The phrase I’ve used when talking about the leadership the Israel and Judah had—especially when looking at the kings that ruled over them; "As goes the king, so goes the people."
Whatever the king did—how he lived his life, how he worshiped, what kind of integrity he had, (or didn’t have), what the king valued and lived for—the people valued and lived for. What the king loved and served and worshiped, the king loved and served and worshiped. Israel split into two kingdoms after King Solomon died; and there is a telling statistic I want to show you—(it will gives a good overview of a large portion of the Bible.) There were only 7 good kings in all of Israel and Judah’s history--combined. Only 7 good kings in 330 years. Does it surprise you that both Israel and Judah ended up begin punished by God, and were both sent into exile? Me neither. The whole ‘kingly-reign’ idea came at a time in Israel’s history where Israel rejected God as their King, because they wanted to be like everyone else. 1 Samuel 8:5c, 7 says,
“Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have”…”Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer”
Israel needed a king who loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength; and, love his neighbors as himself. God knew this, and His heart ached because of the poor leadership His people had. God promised to deal with the wicked leaders. Jeremiah 23:1-4 says,
“'What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,' says the Lord. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: 'Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them. But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own sheepfold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number. Then I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one will be lost or missing. I, the Lord, have spoken!'"
How was God going to do this? Humans are sinful, and it’s so easy to be led astray—someone would have to be perfect (or in Bible terms, Righteous) to be able to do this. Jeremiah 23: 5-6 continues,
“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.”
He promised that they would have a Righteous King. How is this possible? The Bible says in Romans 3:23, 10,
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.—As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one..”
The King that God would send would have to be Righteous. How would we know who this King was? This passage in Jeremiah gives us the clue,
“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line.”
Luke 3: 23, 31,32 says,
“Jesus was known as the son of Joseph…Nathan was the son of David. David was the son of Jesse.”
A couple of clues to consider:
One, we see from this family tree of Jesus that Jesus was indeed from Davids line, and God promised David that a King from his line would rule over God’s people forever. (“For I made this covenant with your father, David, when I said, ‘One of your descendants will always rule over Israel.”—1 Chronicles 17:14; 2 Chronicles 7:18)
Two, Jesus’ name means, “He Saves” (“and you are to name him Jesus (the Lord saves) for he will save his people from their sins.”—Matthew 1:21b)
Three, He will be the Son of God. Luke 3:38 says,
“Jesus was know as the son of Joseph…Adam was the son of God.”
Genealogies give us powerful clues. To be someone’s son, is to have their authority and position and to receive the promise. The Bible is showing that Jesus is from the line of—the family of—these men and women. These men and women were given authority and position and promises from God. When the Bible lands the plane here, and says that Jesus is the Son of David it means that Jesus inherits the promises and authority and position of David. When the Bible says Jesus is the Son of God, it helps us to answer to our question, “How is it possible that this King God promised would be Righteous?” This promised King, He would be God’s Son (and God is Righteous!)
Let me close with one of Jesus’ best friends comments about Jesus in 1 John 2:1-2,
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
Jesus is the Christ—which means, The Messiah, The Anointed One, The King!
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
(Read the previous blogs here)
Isn’t it fascinating to watch people during the Christmas season. Oh, I’m not just talking about the folks in the stores—although they offer a rich set of material for future illustrations. I’m truly fascinated watching leaders during the Christmas season—especially those in politics.
For most of the year I watch politicians as they navigate the minefield of their arena’s, looking for ways to engage and influence for and with those around them. There are the party line’s that need to be pushed for; and, the personal projects that they promised to honor when elected. There are the obligatory talking head moments, and the negotiating while connecting with others who may or may not hold to their points of view. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:1-6,
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.”
Paul is training up Timothy, a young pastor in the church, and here is instructing Timothy how to engage leadership culture prayerfully—and we should too! I know how challenging leading in the church is, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to serve as a politician—and we certainly want to live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity—don’t we…
We don’t always choose to live with godliness and dignity do we? We follow those who lead us, and over time; we begin to act, talk, and think—like them. That’s a scary thought. (A more terrifying thought, "Who is leading us?"),
Israel had this problem 'In spades.' The phrase I’ve used when talking about the leadership the Israel and Judah had—especially when looking at the kings that ruled over them; "As goes the king, so goes the people."
Whatever the king did—how he lived his life, how he worshiped, what kind of integrity he had, (or didn’t have), what the king valued and lived for—the people valued and lived for. What the king loved and served and worshiped, the king loved and served and worshiped. Israel split into two kingdoms after King Solomon died; and there is a telling statistic I want to show you—(it will gives a good overview of a large portion of the Bible.) There were only 7 good kings in all of Israel and Judah’s history--combined. Only 7 good kings in 330 years. Does it surprise you that both Israel and Judah ended up begin punished by God, and were both sent into exile? Me neither. The whole ‘kingly-reign’ idea came at a time in Israel’s history where Israel rejected God as their King, because they wanted to be like everyone else. 1 Samuel 8:5c, 7 says,
“Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have”…”Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer”
Israel needed a king who loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength; and, love his neighbors as himself. God knew this, and His heart ached because of the poor leadership His people had. God promised to deal with the wicked leaders. Jeremiah 23:1-4 says,
“'What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,' says the Lord. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: 'Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them. But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own sheepfold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number. Then I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one will be lost or missing. I, the Lord, have spoken!'"
How was God going to do this? Humans are sinful, and it’s so easy to be led astray—someone would have to be perfect (or in Bible terms, Righteous) to be able to do this. Jeremiah 23: 5-6 continues,
“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.”
He promised that they would have a Righteous King. How is this possible? The Bible says in Romans 3:23, 10,
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.—As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one..”
The King that God would send would have to be Righteous. How would we know who this King was? This passage in Jeremiah gives us the clue,
“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line.”
Luke 3: 23, 31,32 says,
“Jesus was known as the son of Joseph…Nathan was the son of David. David was the son of Jesse.”
A couple of clues to consider:
One, we see from this family tree of Jesus that Jesus was indeed from Davids line, and God promised David that a King from his line would rule over God’s people forever. (“For I made this covenant with your father, David, when I said, ‘One of your descendants will always rule over Israel.”—1 Chronicles 17:14; 2 Chronicles 7:18)
Two, Jesus’ name means, “He Saves” (“and you are to name him Jesus (the Lord saves) for he will save his people from their sins.”—Matthew 1:21b)
Three, He will be the Son of God. Luke 3:38 says,
“Jesus was know as the son of Joseph…Adam was the son of God.”
Genealogies give us powerful clues. To be someone’s son, is to have their authority and position and to receive the promise. The Bible is showing that Jesus is from the line of—the family of—these men and women. These men and women were given authority and position and promises from God. When the Bible lands the plane here, and says that Jesus is the Son of David it means that Jesus inherits the promises and authority and position of David. When the Bible says Jesus is the Son of God, it helps us to answer to our question, “How is it possible that this King God promised would be Righteous?” This promised King, He would be God’s Son (and God is Righteous!)
Let me close with one of Jesus’ best friends comments about Jesus in 1 John 2:1-2,
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
Jesus is the Christ—which means, The Messiah, The Anointed One, The King!
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
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