This week we are getting into a very good topic in the Bible, especially as we see it crystallized in the Minor Prophets, Christ Coming Back as the Real David to Restore His Kingdom.
The Minor Prophets mainly speak about three things: God’s loving chastisement of His elect (the people of Israel), God’s judgement upon the nations (because they dealt harshly with Israel), and these two issue in the manifestation of Christ which brings in the age of restoration.
The goal is the restoration of the people of Israel and of all things, and this restoration is the coming of the kingdom of God. In the prophets the kingdom of God is many times associated with the kingdom of David, because David was a type of Christ as the real King.
God desires to have a kingdom on this earth, a sphere, a domain, a realm, with His chosen people. In this domain He wants to exercise His administration under His full authority! God will get His kingdom!
The prophets spoke of David and Christ as One
Many times when you read the books of the prophets you realize that, on the one hand, they speak of David the king, but actually they speak of Christ!
David is a type of Christ, David’s house refers to Christ, David’s kingdom refers to Christ’s kingdom, and David’s throne refers to Christ’s throne (see Isa. 9:7; 16:5; Luke 1:32; Acts 2:29-31).
When the prophets speak of the restoration of the kingdom of David, they actually speak of the kingdom of Christ coming to the earth – the kingdom of David is Christ’s kingdom, and David and Christ have one throne.
There are so many verses that show us that David and Christ are one, and the prophets spoke of David and Christ as One.
God in man and man in God
In 2 Sam. 7 David expresses his heart’s desire to build a house for God, and in v. 12 God gives him a very interesting answer. Instead of God wanting David to build Him a house, God wants to build Himself into David and build David a house.
God promised that He will give David a seed, and that seed will be the Son of God (Rom. 1:3). Wow!
This shows us the principle of incarnation – David and Christ are not only one, but God desires to work Himself into humanity and have a seed, a Son, who is both the Son of David (according to His humanity) and the Son of God (according to His divinity).
On the one hand, the seed of David was Solomon, but the real seed of David is Christ, the God-man! Today, if the Son of God is not constituted into our being, if we are not God-men, we are nothing.
God desires to bring God into man and bring man into God, so that He may unite, mingle, and incorporate the Triune God with the tripartite man!
This is why God became a man – God was incarnated, He lived a perfect human life, He died an all-inclusive death on the cross, He rose from the dead, and He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Now this life-giving Spirit is our Savior, our Redeemer, our life, and He is the seed!
He came into us when we were born again, when we received the Lord Jesus into our heart, and now He is building Himself into us, He is constituting us with Himself, and He is making us part of Him even as He made Himself part of us! How wonderful!
Christ is the Shepherd and the King
Ezekiel 34:23-24 says, “I will set up over them one Shepherd, My Servant David, and He will feed them; He will feed them, and He will be their Shepherd … And My Servant David will be a Prince among them.”
Here we see that Christ as the great Shepherd and even Chief Shepherd is typified by David, and He is also the king. The shepherd is the king – the Lord comes to shepherd us as the King, and He rules and governs us as a Shepherd.
On the one hand David the King was shepherding his people, and on the other hand Christ as the real David is now the King shepherding His people.
The real shepherding is not to just “make people happy” but to bring people to the throne, to shepherd people to God’s presence! We need to shepherd people to come under the Lord’s kingship and His throne within them.
There’s a throne in our being, but many times we lose it – we need to shepherd one another back to the throne, because when we are under the throne, water will flow and the river of life will dispense life into us!
Return to Jehovah and to Christ
Hosea 3:5 also says, “Afterward the children of Israel will return and seek Jehovah their God and David their King, and they will come with fear to Jehovah and to His goodness in the last days.”
This really shows us that in the age of restoration the people of Israel will return and seek Jehovah and Christ, who is the real David the king. We need to pray for this, that all men will return to God and seek Christ the King.
Just as Hosea returned to Gomer to love her even after her harlotries, so God returns to His people and loves them, and He wants them to return to Him and take Christ as their king.
The age of restoration will be the age of the manifestation of Christ, when Christ will rule in God’s kingdom over His people!
This is why the Lord taught us to pray in this way, Your kingdom come (Matt. 6:10)! If God doesn’t have such a realm, such a kingdom, He doesn’t have a place to accomplish His purpose. God has a plan, an economy, and He needs a place, a realm where He can accomplish His economy.
His kingdom must come, and Christ as the real David will return to establish God’s kingdom!
Lord, we stand here on earth one with You as Your people. May Your kingdom come. Oh, Son of David, the Seed of David, the Greater David, the Real David, come with Your kingdom! Come soon and restore the earth – restore everything to be under God’s dominion! Come soon, Lord, and restore Your kingdom, sit on your throne, and get all the dominion and power and blessing! We crown You! Hail to Jesus, the real king of this earth and of the whole universe! Jesus is coming to reign! Hallelujah, praise the Lord!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother M. Chen’s sharing in the message, and portions in, Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel (msg. 23), and, Life-study of Hosea (msgs. 3-4), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of the Minor Prophets, week 7 (entitled, Christ Coming Back as the Real David to Restore His Kingdom).
- Hymns / Songs on this topic:
# He’s the Shepherd and He’s the Friend, / The Wisdom and the Rest. / He’s the greater Temple / And the real David.
# Thou art the King as David was, / And God’s desire dost seek; / The battle fought, the foe subdued, / God’s heart Thou dost bespeak.
# God’s eternal economy / Is to make man the same as He is / In life and nature, / But not in the Godhead.
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amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord!