Christmas Time And The Davidic Covenant
Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year. Christmas Eve is the time when my family and I cook a beautiful dinner and we all sit around the table talking in anticipation of opening presents soon. We have a tradition where all the children exchange gifts on Christmas eve and then Christmas morning is when we exchange gifts with our parents. After eating dinner, we all go to the living room and everyone finds a comfortable place to sit down. As it so happens, the youngest gets to give their gifts first! By this time, my brothers and sister, and I have worked hard to shop for gifts without the others having any clues as to what we bought. We try to keep whatever we got each other a secret, so we can enjoy watching each other’s reactions as they open their gifts. You see that’s the thing, the best part in all of this is giving the gifts rather than getting them. The real joy of the evening is always seeing how much the person opening the gift loves it. God also takes pleasure in giving beautiful gifts. God is kind, and His gifts are far better than anything that we could think to give Him.
James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
The Context of Second Samuel
In Second Samuel 7.1-29, David was settled in Jerusalem and he had come up with the idea that he wanted to do something for God. David wanted to build a temple that would bring glory and honor to the Lord. While David had good intentions…God had different plans for David. It was not God`s will for David to build Him a house. Instead, God would build a house for David. God gave David something far better than what David wanted to give the Lord. In this chapter, God gives David and his descendants the right to rule forever. “In other words, this chapter was to become the source of the messianic hope as it developed in the message of prophets and psalmists.”
Jer. 25.5, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
Psalm 89: 34-37, “I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.”
What is the Davidic Covenant?
In chapter seven God made a covenant with David and promised him that someone would come through his line who would rule and reign forever. The Davidic Covenant is unconditional and amplifies the seed aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises God makes to David are of the utmost importance and central to the message of the Bible. Dr. J. Vernon McGee writes, “God promised a king and a kingdom to come in the line of David. He was referring not only to Solomon but to Christ, David`s greater Son, and His eternal Kingdom. God confirmed this promise with an oath (Ps. 89: 34-37). David understood that a King was coming in his line who would be more than a man” (209).
Just like in the Christmas story, God takes pleasure in giving gifts to His children and He knows just how to give the most perfect gifts. In fact, we celebrate God`s most perfect gift at Christmas time. The greatest gift we have ever been given was given by God through Jesus Christ. Believers now have access to a relationship with God and eternal life because of Christ`s finished work on the cross. Jesus came at Christmas time, so He could fulfill God`s will by paying our sin debt in full.
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