Times of the Gentiles, Part 3 - Failure of Davidic Rule (Jeremiah 13; 21; Ezekiel 21:10-27)a

© 2020 Tony Garlandb

Davidic King

  1. Covenant

    1. Passage: 2 Samuel 7:12-16

      12 When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. (2S. 7:12-16)

  2. Unconditional throne, conditional occupation

  3. Divine expectations

    1. Jeremiah - prophesies leading up to the fall of Jerusalem (the end of Davidic rule)

    2. Passage: (Jeremiah 21:10-12)

      10 “For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the LORD. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.” 11 “And concerning the house of the king of Judah, [say], ‘Hear the word of the LORD, 12 O house of David! Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment in the morning; And deliver [him who is] plundered Out of the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth like fire And burn so that no one can quench [it], Because of the evil of your doings.” ’ ” (Jer. 21:10-12)

    3. Passage: (Jeremiah 22:1-3)

      1 Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates!’” 3 Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jer. 22:1-3)

  4. The failure of the dominion mandate

  5. A mediator running the mediatorial kingdom who grossly misrepresents God’s intent

Impending judgment, not just of Israel, but of the occupants on the Davidic throne

  1. Passage: Jeremiah 13:13-18 (a contemporary of Daniel)

    Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land-even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem-with drunkenness! . . . Say to the king and to the queen mother, Humble yourselves; Sit down, For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”’ (Jer. 13:13-18)

  2. Passage: Ezekiel 21:10-27 (a contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel - the Babylonian connection)

    9 Son of man, prophesy and say, “Thus says the LORD!” Say: “A sword, a sword is sharpened And also polished! 10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning! Should we then make mirth? It despises the scepter of My Son, [As it does] all wood. . . . 12 Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, Against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike [your] thigh. 13 Because [it is] a testing, And what if [the sword] despises even the scepter? [The scepter] shall be no [more],” says the Lord GOD. . . . 25 Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel [Zedekiah], whose day has come, whose iniquity [shall] end, 26 thus says the Lord GOD: “Remove the turban, and take off the crown; Nothing [shall remain] the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. 27 Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no [longer], Until He comes whose right it is, And I will give it [to Him].”’ (Eze. 21:10-27)

    עַד־בֹּא אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ הַמִּשְׁפָּת וּנְתַתִּיו [ʿad–-bō ʾăšer–lô hammišpāṯ wûneṯattîw] (BHS, Eze. 21:32)

    [Until He arrives who—to Him the judgment (legal right, claim) and I will give it to Him.]

  3. Psalm 89

    Judgment of the Davidic throne is also the subject in Psalm 89 where very strong promises to uphold the throne are followed by a passage speaking of the throne being cast to the ground (Ps. 89:44ff).

  4. Shiloh

    1. Genesis 49:10

      The [ruling] scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet [descendants], Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. (Genesis 49:10)

    2. Peters - “until” עַד [ʿaḏ] can be translated as “forever”

      Our version, together with many others, is not in agreement with fact, for the sceptre had departed from Judah long before Jesus came, and His First Advent occurred when the Jews were under the Roman dominion. Hence one of the following renderings, admissible according to the original must be adopted. The most preferable is given first as follows: “The sceptre shall not be removed from Judah nor the lawgiver from between his feet [his descendants] forever; for Shiloh will come, and to Him shall the gathering of the nations be” (so e.g. Lederer, Editor of the Israelite Indeed, Jan. No., 1863, p. 157, Rev. Wilson, Editor of Proph. Times, new series, June, 1875, p. 139). This translation is also that of the modern Jews who instead of following the masoretic notes give the signification “forever” (and which also belongs to it,) to the word usually translated “until”—the latter word being a favorite as it was supposed to point out the first Advent, etc.1

  5. Curse on royal line

    1. Passage: Jeremiah 22:24-30

      24 “[As] I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah [Jehoiachin, Jeconiah] the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; 25 ”and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand [of those] whose face you fear-the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return. 28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol-A vessel in which [is] no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, And cast into a land which they do not know? 29 O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the LORD! 30 Thus says the LORD: ‘Write this man down as childless, A man [who] shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.’” (Jer. 22:24-30)

      Though King Jehoiachin did have children (Jer. 22:28; cf. 1 Chr. 3:17), he was to be considered childless because none of his offspring would be allowed to sit on the throne of David to rule as king of Judah. This prophecy had both immediate and long-range significance. No offspring of Jehoiachin followed him to the throne. His uncle, Zedekiah, who replaced Jehoiachin, was Judah’s last king. God “pruned away” that portion of the line of David from the kingly line. This prophecy also helps explain the genealogies of Christ in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Matthew presented the legal line of Christ through his stepfather, Joseph. However, Joseph’s line came through Shealtiel who was a son of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Matt. 1:12; cf. 1 Chron. 3:17). Had Christ been a physical descendant of Joseph and not virgin-born, He would have been disqualified as Israel’s King. Luke presented the physical line of Christ through Mary, who was descended from David through the line of his son Nathan (Luke 3:31). In that way Christ was not under the “curse” of Jehoiachin. (For additional information see comments on Matt. 1:2–17; Luke 3:24–38.) [Charles Dyer, Jeremiah]2

      Write . . . as childless. Jeconiah did have offspring (1 Chr. 3:17, 18), but he was reckoned childless in the sense that he had no sons who would reign (“Sitting on the throne . . .”). The curse continued in his descendants down to Joseph, the husband of Mary. How could Jesus then be the Messiah when His father was under this curse? It was because Joseph was not involved in the blood line of Jesus since He was virgin born (Matt. 1:12). Jesus’ blood right to the throne of David came through Mary from Nathan, Solomon’s brother, not Solomon (Jeconiah’s line) thus bypassing this curse (Luke 3:31, 32). Cf. 36:30.3

      John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1094.
    2. Potential problem: this line leads to Jesus

      Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. (Mat. 1:11)

      1. Josiah → Jehoahaz (Shallum) → Jehoiakim (Eliakim) → Jeconiah (Jehoiachin, Coniah) → Zedekiah (Mattaniah, uncle of Jeconiah, brother of Jehoiakim)4
    3. In a future session, we'll look at how God solves this dilemma!

      Sat Jan 18 19:03:51 2020

      SpiritAndTruth.org Scan Code
      c


Endnotes:

1.Ref-0715, 398
2.Ref-0038, 1.1157-1158
3.Ref-0089, Jer. 22:24
4.Countdown to Captivityd


Sources:

Ref-0038John Walvoord and Roy. B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Wheaton, IL: SP Publications, 1983).
Ref-0089John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997).
Ref-0715George H. M. Peters, The Theocratic Kingdom (Redding, CA: Pleasant Places Press, 1884, 2005).


Links Mentioned Above
a - See https://spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Times_of_the_Gentiles/003_Failure_of_Davidic_Rule/index.htm.
b - See https://spiritandtruth.org/id/tg.htm.
c - See https://spiritandtruth.org.
d - See file:///garland/users/spirit/website/teaching/Book_of_Daniel/commentary/htm/intro/setting.html#2.9.3.4.