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The Rev. Frank
Logue
Much Ado about David David. David. David. In three of our four readings for this morning, King David is mentioned prominently. In the Second Book of Samuel, the Prophet Nathan tells the king that God has promised David, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.” In the Psalm we read, “The Lord has sworn an oath to David; in truth, he will not break it.” Then in the Gospel, the angel Gabriel tells Mary “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Why does the Bible make such a big deal out of one ancient Israeli king? There were other kings, why does his name ring down through the ages coming to us with such import? Well in this season of Advent that is easily enough answered that the Jewish hope of a Messiah was to come through the line of King David. This is because of that passage we read this morning from Second Samuel in which the Prophet Nathan comes to David with a word from God promising that his kingdom will be an everlasting one. This promise to David and his ancestors was seen at first as a promise for an earthly kingdom with a succession of kings of Israel in the line of David. But this promise did not hold out very long before it ran into trouble. David’s son Solomon is remembered as a wise and good king who built the temple in Jerusalem and ably governed the people. But his two sons both claimed the throne and the kingdom was divided into a northern and a southern kingdom. Then as the Davidic kings continued to ascend to the throne, they often proved to be ungodly. Kings like Jeroboam, the son of Nebat brought back idol worship, setting up altars to other gods in Israel. Yet God remained faithful to David’s heirs. Even a king like Jeroboam II, seen as so evil by prophets like Hosea and Amos, was also blessed with a long reign and the ability to expand the borders of Israel. Of course, their were great kings from a religious perspective, but these were few. Kings Josiah and Hezekiah both called the people back to God. Yet whether the kings were faithful or not, God stuck by the promise to David. Now, an evil king could be chastened, but his descendant would still be the rightful king, not just in the line of succession, but we are told also in God’s sight. The reason this is true is that God had made a treaty of sorts with David. You see there were a few common types of treaties in the Ancient Near East.[1] There was the parity treaty entered into by two equals. Rather than attempting to defeat and equal in battle, you could create a parity treaty in which you agreed on how to live together without hostility so that both prospered. There was also a suzerainty treaty between unequals. We find Israel entering into these treaties with others as protection from first Assyria and then Babylon. The prophets are angered as the kings of Israel trust agreements with other kings rather than trusting God. For in a suzerainty treaty a king could make himself subject to another king. This is not unlike the way in which King Herod rules Palestine during Jesus’ lifetime through an agreement with Rome. These treaties had a common formula of a:
And we find similar wording in scripture suggesting that God also entered into a treaty with humans. But before we look at the sort of treaty God made, we need to consider one more aspect of how these others treaties worked. According to Jewish scholar Jon Levenson,[2] the most important factor was relationship: “The ancient Near Eastern [treaty] was not an impersonal code, but an instrument of diplomacy founded upon the personal relationship of the heads of state.” We look to governments as entities in themselves beyond the personalities in leadership. For America should honor commitments made by one administration until the terms of that commitment expire. But in the Ancient Near East, governing was much more personal and any treaty was the establishment of a relationship, a very personal relationship between the leaders, within the bounds set by the treaty. In parity treaties, kings would call one another “brother” and tried to act like the best of brothers to one another. In a suzerainty treaty, the terms “father” and “son” were used and in ancient treaties we find the word love as well, that a vassal should love their suzerain as a father. When we look at sections of scripture like Exodus 19 with God and Moses and this morning’s passage from Second Samuel, we find that God makes treaty, but the form is that of covenant. In a covenant, one person binds themselves to another saying that all the stipulations have already been met. In the case of David, some of his descendants might be evil, but the line of David had fulfilled all its obligations in God’s eyes through David himself. David was, of course, a very human king. We see him willing to make a fool of himself dancing before the Lord and even more foolishly coveting the wife of Uriah the Hittite and arranging that man’s death so that she could be his wife. Throughout the long saga of David found in scripture though, we find David consistently in relationship with God, even we he was railing at God he stayed in relationship. God who longs for relationship with us saw those stormy years with David as a promise of the many relationships to be forged with humanity. And through David’s line, he would bless all people. In time, the Jews came to realize that the Messiah would be of David’s line. In this way a Son of David would be Son of God and meet the promise for an everlasting kingdom that was beyond what any earthly kingdom could aspire to. No earthly king or kingdom could bring God’s reign of perfect justice and so through the covenant relationship, God would bring about a heavenly kingdom. This New Covenant was promised through the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah had anticipated the new covenant through the word of the Lord he gave in saying,
“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Yes, it would be a treaty among unequals, but God would do some equalizing through Jesus. The shape of this covenant would be cruciform. Jesus sealed that new covenant with his own blood. Jesus’ shed blood overcame death and sealed the new covenant that marks us as children of God. God’s everlasting covenant comes to us today through Jesus who met the obligations of the covenant for us. Jesus who knows we are not equals and wants us, along with him, to call God our father. We do this not through our own righteousness, our own goodness, but through his. Mary was told by the angel Gabriel, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” David matters to us so much in this Advent season as we see that God is faithful in keeping covenant. God never gave up on his promise to David, just as God will never give up on the promises he makes to you. The kingdom of Jesus, our King of Peace, did not and does not look like any other ancient kingdom, accept that it is based on relationship. Jesus wants that very real and very personal relationship with you and with me. Through that relationship to graft you in to an everlasting covenant. Amen. [1] This section relies on Sinai and Zion: An entry into the Jewish Bible, by Jon D. Levenson, chapter 1. [2] Sinai and Zion: An entry into the Jewish Bible, by Jon D. Levenson, p. 28.
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