new church life: november/december 2016
well-loved stories describing how the Lord’s birth took place. Of all of these
though, references to King David and to his lineal “house” are the only ones
that occur throughout both Books of Kings (from the beginning of First Kings
to nearly the end of Second Kings) and also in both the Luke and Matthew
accounts of the Lord’s birth.
The epigraph of this article is the opening of the prophetic words spoken
by the priest Zacharias after his “tongue was loosed” at the naming of his son
John, just months before the birth of the Lord in Bethlehem. What would it
have meant at the time (and how might we understand it more fully now)
when Zacharias described the miraculous events occurring at that time as a
“the Lord God of Israel . . . [raising] a horn of salvation . . . in the house of His
servant David”?
As an historical character King David lives on into the narrative of the
Books of Kings, but only for a chapter and a half. In the first two chapters of
First Kings, we see David’s son Solomon assuming his father’s throne and
consolidating his reign. But it is only by the appointment of the dying King
David, and with David’s advice, that Solomon did so.
In this account, we can see acted out in history what we are told in the
Heavenly Doctrine about David “especially” representing the Lord as a king
of Israel “because he had much care of the matters of the church.” (Apocalypse
Explained 205) It is reported that when news came to him of Solomon’s
anointing as king (despite the efforts of a rival), David (near death) “bowed
himself on the bed” and said, “Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who has
given one to sit on my throne this day . . . ” (I Kings 1: 48)
Then, just before he passed on, David gave advice to his son, the new King
Solomon beginning with these words: “Keep the charge of Jehovah your God,
to walk in His ways.” (I Kings 2: 3) Here we find David setting what will be
a hundreds-of-years example as a king in Israel whose most distinguishing
characteristic was his devotion to the Lord.
David appears remarkably but briefly in the first few pages of the Books of
Kings and in verse 10 of the second chapter, it is reported that he “rested with
his fathers” and was buried. But that is not the last we hear of David and his
legacy in the Books of Kings – far from it.
The signal achievement of David’s son Solomon’s reign was his building
of a temple at Jerusalem, a temple that David himself had proposed to build
during his own lifetime. In the eighth chapter of First Kings, a dedication
ceremony is described, where the Ark of the Covenant was moved from the
tabernacle and placed in its new sanctuary in the temple. Solomon addressed
the people and offered a long prayer to the Lord.
We might say that it was on that day that the kingdom of Israel reached
its height, living not just in peace and prosperity but with a temple dedicated
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