The Remnant of Israel: The Unconditional Promises of the Davidic Covenant Guarantee a Believing Remnant Will Always Exist in Israel Lesson # 16

As we can see thus far from our study of the doctrine of the remnant, God will never totally abandon the nation of Israel and in the future she will as a nation accept Jesus Christ as Savior and thus experience a national regeneration and restoration to the land promised to her by God centuries ago.

This regeneration and restoration of the nation of Israel will fulfill the four unconditional covenants to Israel, which are the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New covenants.

The unconditional nature of the promises contained in these covenants guarantees that a believing remnant will always exist in Israel in every generation of human history and thus in every dispensation or in other words, if a believing remnant does not exist at any point in history, then God has not kept these promises.

There are seven great features that are distinct in each of these four unconditional covenants to Israel: (1) Israel will be a nation forever. (2) Israel will possess a significant portion of land forever. (3) Israel will have a King rule over her forever. (4) Israel will have a throne from which Christ will ruler, forever. (5) Israel will have a kingdom forever.

The “Davidic” covenant deals with the dynasty that will rule the nation of Israel as indicated in 2 Samuel 7:16 where God promised David that a descendant of his would sit on his throne forever.

As in the case of the Abrahamic covenant, this covenant with David is restated and reconfirmed elsewhere in Scripture (cf. Isa. 9:6-7; Jer. 23:5-6; 30:8-9; 33:14-17, 20-21; Ezek. 37:24-25; Dan. 7:13-14; Hos. 3:4-5; Amos 9:11; Zech. 14:4, 9).

The Davidic covenant contains four promises:

(1) A Davidic House: Posterity of David will never be destroyed.

(2) A Davidic Throne: Kingdom of David shall never be destroyed.

(3) A Davidic Kingdom: David’s Son (Christ) will have an earthly sphere of rule.

(4) It Shall Be Unending. The “sign” of the Davidic Covenant is a Son (Lord Jesus Christ).

Provisions of the Davidic covenant:

(1) David is to have a child, yet to be born, who will succeed him and establish his kingdom

(2) This son (Solomon), instead of David, will build the temple.

(3) The throne of his kingdom will be established forever.

(4) The throne will not be taken away from him (Solomon) even though his sins justify God’s discipline.

(5) David’s house, throne and kingdom will be established forever.

The essential features of the Davidic covenant are found in three words in 2 Samuel 7:16:

(1) House (physical descendants): A line stemming from David would continue indefinitely and would be the divinely recognized royal line.

(2) Kingdom (political body): the political body that David would rule and over which David’s descendants would successively reign.

(3) Throne (right to rule): refers to the authority as king vested in him.

Just as important as these three terms is the word “forever,” which refers to any time during which the descendants of Abraham would exist.

Even though there might be temporary interruptions in the exercise of royal authority because of divine discipline, the authority would never transfer to another line.

One of the royal titles that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses is that of the “Son of David,” which denotes His rulership over the nation of Israel (Matt. 1:1; 20:30; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 3:7; 5:5; 22:16).

The prophetic implications of the Davidic covenant:

(1) Israel must be preserved as a nation.

(2) Israel must have a national existence and be brought back into the land of her inheritance.

(3) David’s descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, must return to the earth, bodily and literally, in order to reign over David’s covenanted kingdom.

(4) A literal earthly kingdom must exist over which the returned Messiah will reign.

(5) This kingdom must become an eternal kingdom.

The Davidic Covenant contains four promises:

(1) A Davidic House: Posterity of David will never be destroyed.

(2) A Davidic Throne: Kingdom of David shall never be destroyed.

(3) A Davidic Kingdom: David’s Son (Christ) will have an earthly sphere of rule.

(4) It Shall Be Unending: The “sign” of the Davidic Covenant is a Son (Lord Jesus Christ).

The prophetic implications of the Davidic Covenant:

(1) Israel must be preserved as a nation.

(2) Israel must have a national existence and be brought back into the land of her inheritance.

(3) David’s descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, must return to the earth, bodily and literally, in order to reign over David’s covenanted kingdom.

(4) A literal earthly kingdom must exist over which the returned Messiah will reign.

(5) This kingdom must become an eternal kingdom.

The Bible anticipates a future literal fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, will literally fulfill this covenant during His millennial reign.