I always wondered about the 3 great kings that God mentioned in the apocrypha, that of David, Hezekiah and Josiah. In Ecclesiasticus 49: 4. “All, except David and Ezekias and Josias, were defective: for they forsook the law of the most High, even the kings of Juda failed.” Obviously these men were righteous but there was something else that further distinguished them from the rest of the monarchs. The works and exploits of these men serve as a prophecy of Christ and his works, making them important symbols of Jesus that we should learn.
INTRODUCTION
Interestingly enough, Israel was not always ruled by earthly kings. God was their king and there were judges and prophets in leadership. However, Israel wanted to be like all other nations and demanded a king during the time of Samuel, I Samuel 8: 4-7, “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
INTRODUCTION
Despite their foolishness, God chose Israel’s first king and his name was Saul. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. As history reveals, there were serious ramifications for Israel choosing to have a king to rule over them. Before Israel divided into 2 kingdoms, David ascended to the throne following Saul. After David, King Solomon ruled. It was after Solomon’s death that, Rehoboam, his son, took to the throne. Rehoboam refused to lighten the heavy taxes and forced labor imposed by his father on Israel. This caused the 10 tribes of Israel to rebel and form an independent kingdom led by Jeroboam while Rehoboam ruled over Judah. Beginning with Jeroboam there were 20 kings that ruled in Israel and all were wicked, not one righteous! Beginning with Rehoboam, there were 20 kings and one queen in Judah, with only eight considered righteous, this included David, Hezekiah and Josiah.
INTRODUCTION
So who are these great men? And more importantly, what are their similarities to Christ and how do their kingdoms’ serve as a foreshadow to the works of our Savior? Finally, what important spiritual lessons can we derive from each of them?
KING DAVID
Let’s start with King David. He was deemed the greatest and most righteous of all kings. He was the second king to rule following Saul’s epic failure as sovereign. But how did he come into power?
God directed the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse because God was going to choose one of his sons to replace Saul.
KING DAVID
Now Jesse was a direct descendent of Judah and had eight sons. But when Samuel came, Jesse only introduced his 7 stronger and older sons. The Lord rejected each of them, because he considered one’s heart over the outward appearance. There was of course one son left and that was David, the youngest of the eight. He was tending to the flock at the time and was brought before Samuel. When David came, the Lord revealed to Samuel that it was in fact this youthful lad that would rule in Saul’s place.
So David was secretly anointed by Samuel at a young age in the city of Bethlehem.
KING DAVID
I want to bring to your attention that this was not the only time that King David was anointed. He was actually anointed on 3 separate occasions, marking a different state of his rise to power. We already mentioned the first anointing. The second anointing took place after Saul’s death when the men of Judah anointed him to be King over the House of Judah (2 Samuel 2: 4). The 3rd time was after years of civil war when the elders of all the tribes of Israel came to Hebron to establish a covenant with David and anoint him king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5: 3). He was 30 at this time.
KING DAVID
Christ was also anointed 3 times. He was first anointed by the Holy Ghost when he was baptized (Acts 10: 38). Christ, also was 30 at this time. Christ was anointed in Galilee by an unnamed woman who was known in the city as a “sinner.” The woman wept and washed His feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair and anointed his feet. This is found in Luke 7: 36-50. The final anointing was in Bethany by Mary Magdalene before he was crucified. Mary broke open an alabaster box of very costly spikenard. She the poured it on Christ’s head and anointed his feet. This is found in Matthew 26: 6-13.
KING DAVID
Asides from the anointing, there are many more similarities that we can find between David and Christ. First, the name David means beloved or dearly beloved. God the Father referred to Christ as his beloved son on 2 occasions in the Bible, including Christ’s Baptism as well as his transfiguration in front of Peter, James and John. In Matthew 3: 17, “And lo a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in who I am well pleased.” And in Luke 9: 35, “And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved son, hear him:”
KING DAVID
If you can recall, David was first anointed and consecrated to be king in the city of Bethlehem. It was not by chance, that Christ was born in Bethlehem, which is also known as the “City of David.” Not only did Christ serve as heir through the lineage of David but before the foundation of the world, Christ was consecrated by the God the Father to be King of Kings over all. Christ is our Shepherd and we are his flock. David, as previously mentioned, was also a shepherd. He protected his flock by killing both a lion and a bear with his bare hands 1 Samuel 17:34–37 (KJV). Spiritually, the lion and bear are like Satan and Christ is the one who protects us from him.
KING DAVID
Christ too is our champion. He earned a triumphant victory over Satan through His death and resurrection. And just as the stone struck Goliath’s head, Christ’s word is that stone, yielding the power to fatally knock down Satan and his Kingdom.
KING DAVID
The sword used to behead Goliath can be compared to the word of God as well. In Hebrews 4: 12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
KING DAVID
As king, David was a man of war, (I Chronicles 28:3), Christ is also regarding as a man of war. In Exodus 15: 3, “The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.” God fights for us now by arming us with his word. Not only that, he renders, measure by measure, judgement on this world. One day, we will literally fight in battle with Christ against the sons of men and Satan.
KING DAVID
David was famously known as the “sweet psalmist of Israel.” This is found in 2 Samuel 23:1. Now a psalmist is a writer, composer, and/or singer of sacred songs, prayers and poems. The Psalms are a beautiful and edifying collection of songs and prayers and David wrote at least half of them. We can draw a close parallel between David and Christ if we put emphasis on their prayers. David, as King, would often pray not only for himself but for the entire nation of Israel, acting as a father figure and an intercessor. In Psalms 25: 22 it says, “Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.” In Psalms 28: 8-9, “The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.”
KING DAVID
Christ is our Father and acts as an intercessor between us and God the Father, (Romans 8: 34). We cannot get to the Father except through Jesus Christ (St. John 14: 16). Therefore, Christ prays for us. The longest and one of the most beautiful prayers that Christ prayed on this earth was found in John 17, right before his arrest and crucifixion.
Here is an excerpt from that prayer in verses 9 to 11: ”I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” So we can see both David and Christ prayed to God the Father to preserve and redeem his children.
KING DAVID
The scriptures reveal that David was goodly to look upon. In I Samuel 16: 12, “And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.” Now why is that important? The word of God and Christ in all his splendor are good and beautiful to behold. In Psalms 27: 4, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.”
KING DAVID
In Song of Solomon 1: 15-16 “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.” Man often misinterprets the Song of Solomon to be a mere of collection of poetry celebrating romantic love but this is far from the truth. In verses 15-16 it is talking about Christ who is referenced as fair, meaning beautiful and goodly to look upon and not just from a physical standpoint but from a spiritual standpoint, specifically as it pertains to the word of God. It also described Christ as beloved, which as I mentioned before is the meaning behind the name David. Beloved means to be highly esteemed and dearly loved. This is the type of love we must show for Christ.
KING DAVID
Like Christ, David was persecuted by many. In particular, Saul who envied him, sought after his life for he knew the kingdom was being ripped from him and David was chosen by God to replace him. At this time, David had done nothing wrong to warrant this persecution and instead showed Saul mercy, goodness and kindness. We know that when Christ walked this earth, he was persecuted for righteousness’ sake by the leaders of Israel. They sought his life on multiple occasions and of course he was eventually crucified and raised from the dead. Like David did for Saul, the Lord shows mercy and goodness, not only to the righteous but the the wicked as well, (Matthew 5: 45).
KING DAVID
What lessons can we learn from David? As the Bible describes him, he was man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13: 14). This is saying a lot about how much the Lord loved and esteemed David. This man was very courageous and faithful, serving God in even his youth, which is just what the Bible instructs us to do in Ecclesiastes 12:1. King David’s legacy is defined by deep humility before God. He frequently confessed his sins, willingly submitted to divine direction, and credited the Lord for his victories. David also worshipped God with his whole might.
KING DAVID
As we know, he wrote several songs and poems. He also danced and sang, serving as an example of how you should worship the Lord in vigor and in strength.
And although David sinned against the Lord, it is because of his earnest remorse and righteous works that God’s mercy was guaranteed. These are known as the sure mercies of David. We too, want the sure mercies of David but like this king, we have to be committed to God and serve him with our whole heart that we may be a living testimony of Jesus Christ. Amen.
