“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon THE THRONE OF DAVID, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
(Isaiah 9:6, 7 KJV)
“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
(Luke 1:31-33 KJV)
“For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
(II Peter
“The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it;
Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.”
(Psalms 132:11 KJV)
“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.”
(Acts
“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
(Revelation
The ‘Throne of David’ is an ancient biblical term that has not been explored at all by many, and is often misunderstood. The purpose of this bible study is to use the Scriptures to shed some light on this very important concept. If we can understand how the ‘Throne of David’ applies to Jesus Christ, then many of the other Messianic Scriptures will come into better perspective.
This is a deep, yet very simple teaching that if
understood, will cause the many false theories and notions about the Kingship
of Jesus Christ being taught in religion today to be uncovered. The ‘Throne of David’ is a very elementary
truth about the Kingship of Jesus Christ and will be proven by the Scriptures
to directly reveal Jesus of Nazareth as the King of Israel, from being foretold
of in Old Testament Prophecy to His Birth and until forever, a reign over Jacob
(
THE ‘THRONE OF
DAVID’ IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
In the days of Samuel the prophet/priest/judge, the elders of national Israel asked Samuel to make a king to judge and reign over them because Samuel had gotten old in years and his sons that he had set up as judges didn’t walk in his righteous ways but instead lusted after money, took bribes, and perverted judgment (1 Samuel 8:3-5).
Samuel was displeased at this request of the elders of
“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.” (1 Samuel 8:7 KJV)
The LORD GOD was the King over national
Samuel was not pleased at this request, and the LORD told Samuel that they weren’t rejecting Samuel, but in this request they were rejecting the LORD GOD Himself to reign over them. This establishes the fact that the Lord God was the first King of Israel, and later He would appear in flesh as Jesus Christ in the seed of David as their last King, promised in Psalms 132:11.
Samuel the prophet later received instruction from God and
anointed a man named Saul to be the first king over national
Notice that for national
If the Israelites did wickedly by being unbelieving and
disobedient, in rebellion against the Law of the LORD, then the nation of
Saul later committed sins of disobedience in rejecting the
Word of the LORD, and as a result was rejected from being king over national
This king was a man named David, a shepherd of the
sheep. Through several ordeals, wars,
and political intrigues, David becomes king over
This David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts
He did not turn aside from anything that the LORD GOD commanded him as king all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite which was when he had Uriah murdered after committing adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife (1 Kings 15:5).
King David being a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) and a king that walked in the will of God according to His Law, was promised by God that a man of his seed would not fail to reign upon the throne in Israel forever (1 Kings 8:25, 1 Kings 9:5, 2 Chronicles 6:16, 2 Chronicles 7:18), as long as they walked in the Law of the Lord.
After taking the
If the children of
Of course the ancient warning against
Thus began the ‘royal bloodline’ of King David. All subsequent legitimate kings in
When Solomon was old, his pagan wives turned him to other gods and he became an apostate, building idols to the gods of his wives (1 Kings 11:4-9).
THE INHERITANCE
OF THE ‘THRONE OF DAVID’ BY THE COMING KING OF
As the years passed by, there were more wicked kings
ruling over
This Ruler would be the King of Israel and heir to David’s throne that would establish the nation with judgment and with justice, just like His father David did before Him in ancient times (Isaiah 9:6-7).
It was also prophesied that this Ruler in Israel was to be born in Bethlehem, the city where David lived (Micah 5:2/John 7:42) and where David was first visited and anointed by Samuel the prophet (1 Samuel 16:4, 12-13) in ancient times.
Another prophecy foretold that this King would come to Zion/Jerusalem having Salvation and riding on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass (Zechariah 9:9 compare with Matthew 21:5).
When this King and Lawgiver came from out of
THE JEWISH
UNDERSTANDING
The Jewish understanding of these prophecies was that they
pointed to the ‘Christ,’ or ‘Messiah,’ which means ‘the anointed one.’ This man would be of the royal lineage of
King David, and restore righteousness to His people, the nation of
This Christ would be the ‘King of Israel,’ and thus inherit the ‘throne of David.’ Another ‘Messianic title’ of this man was ‘the Son of God.’
Thus the Jewish understanding was that the titles ‘Son of
God,’ ‘Christ (Messiah),’ ‘
The following Scriptures will illustrate the Jewish understanding that all of these titles which I have mentioned were used interchangeably in thought to describe the same figure (Matthew 16:16, Matthew 26:63, Mark 14:61, Mark 15:32, Luke 9:20, Luke 23:2, John 1:41, John 1:49, John 4:25, John 6:69, John 11:27, and John 20:31), the King of Israel who would inherit the ‘throne of David’ and rule national Israel.
To the Jewish people of national Israel, to whom these prophecies were given, the title ‘Son of God’ did not mean the ‘second person’ in a ‘trinity of persons who are each called God,’ but simply described ‘Christ.’
JESUS OF
Months before the birth of Jesus who is called Christ the
Son of God, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary in Luke 1:31-33 that she will
give birth to the King of Israel who will be given ‘the throne of his father
David’ by the LORD GOD. Luke
“And he shall
reign over the house of Jacob (
This Word from our LORD delivered by the angel Gabriel lets us understand that Jesus was the King of Israel, pronounced to be so even before His Birth! Now remember that in order for a man to qualify being the King of Israel and heir to David’s throne, his lineage back to King David had to be proven.
That is the purpose of Luke 3:23-38, which captures the royal lineage of Jesus through Mary all the way back over a long list of Kings which began with Adam, the first man. David is mentioned in v. 31.
Since Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, we know that Jesus couldn’t inherit the legal right to Kingship of the ‘throne of David’ from the line of Joseph because He is not of Joseph’s bloodline. Jesus is, however, born of a woman and is the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15/Galatians 4:4), so therefore could inherit the Kingship of the ‘throne of David’ through the royal lineage of King David by His mother Mary of the tribe of Judah.
The New Testament records two genealogies (lineages) that reference Jesus Christ in the Gospels. The first is found in Matthew 1:1-17 and the second is found in Luke 3:23-38. Some teach and believe that these two are one in the same genealogy. However, a close examination of the facts will prove that these are two different genealogies! Notice that the genealogy in Matthew traces this particular bloodline through Solomon to David.
“And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;”
(Matthew 1:6 KJV)
Also notice how the genealogy in Luke is different from the Matthew genealogy, and traces this particular bloodline through Nathan to David.
“…which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David…which was the son of Jesse…”
(Luke 3:31-32 KJV) (Abridged)
The sons and daughters of King David are listed in 2 Samuel 5:12-16, and the names of both Solomon and Nathan are on this list of sons and daughters of King David in 2 Samuel 5:14. Since Nathan and Solomon are clearly not the same person, then the genealogies in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38 cannot be the same genealogy!
So these must be the genealogies of Joseph and Mary, because both different genealogies cannot be that of the same person. So which genealogy is that of Joseph, and which genealogy is that of Mary?
Confused yet? Don’t be, because this is actually very simple!
The Scripture Matthew
1. Joseph
is not the father of Jesus, but Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matthew
2. Joseph’s
genealogy has a history of idolatrous kings in
Now that we see plainly that the inheritance of the ‘throne of David’ to be King of Israel could not come to Jesus Christ from Joseph’s bloodline in Matthew 1:1-17, this leaves us with the Luke 3:23-38 genealogy of Mary to deal with. It is easily proven that the Luke 3 genealogy is that of Mary.
In Biblical times, it was customary in listing genealogies
to use the name of the husband, and the Luke genealogy of Mary holds true to
this. Hence, the father of Joseph in
Matthew
However, in Luke
Heli is Joseph’s ‘father-in-law’ by marriage to Mary. That is how a man can have ‘two dads,’ a father and a ‘father-in-law.’
So
although according to custom in the Biblical times of recording genealogies,
Joseph’s name is mentioned in Luke
This means that Mary was of that ‘royal bloodline’ and lineage of King David, and the ‘throne of David’ was with her and ready to be inherited by her firstborn Son, which was Jesus!
WHAT ABOUT THOSE
UNBELIEVING AND DISOBEDIENT ISRAELITES WHO REJECT JESUS AS THEIR KING AND SAVIOR?
Although there are many Scriptures that may serve to answer this question, one passage answers it most clearly. This passage is in the form of a parable that Jesus spoke because He was near Jerusalem (Luke 19:11). This parable closely resembles ‘the parable of servants and talents,’ which appears in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 25:14-30).
However, the context in Luke of Jesus being a King (nobleman) and how this relates to those of His citizens that reject Him also appears for our learning.
Now we will note that those of His citizens who received Him and became His servants are rewarded according to the quality of their service at the King’s return (Luke 19:13, 15-26). Let us see what happens to those that hate him.
“But his citizens hated him, and sent
a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.” (Luke
19:14 KJV)
These ‘citizens’ are Israelites of the house of Jacob. These ‘citizens’ are Israelites who hated Jesus and rejected Him as their King. These would not have Jesus to rule and reign over them in their hearts.
Jesus was given the right by the LORD GOD to rule over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever in Prophecy before His Birth (Luke 1:31-33), and some Israelites confessed His Kingship and became His disciples as obedient citizens in the house of Jacob (Israel) as in Luke 19:38/John 1:49/John 12:13. Hence you have two ‘sets of citizens’ here, obedient citizens, and disobedient citizens.
It is these disobedient citizens which are addressed in the parable in Luke 19:14. It is these disobedient citizens who shouted for the murder of their King because they hated Him so much and did not want Him to reign over them, as it is written in John 19:12-16.
It is these disobedient citizens who, when given the chance by Pontius Pilate before the nation of Israel to confess Jesus as their King, instead chose to reject Him and to commit the sin of idolatry by proclaiming a pagan gentile emperor as their ONLY king instead of Jesus Christ!
“But they cried
out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.
Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king
but Caesar.” (John 19:15 KJV)
It is these disobedient citizens which, instead of obeying and becoming Jesus’ disciples under the New Covenant, reviled all that confessed Him with their counter-confession, ‘we are Moses’ disciples.’ These disobedient and unbelieving Israelites did not even believe in the Writings of Moses according to what Jesus Christ said in John 5:39-46.
“Then they
reviled him, and said, Thou art his (Jesus’) disciple; but we are Moses’
disciples.” (John 9:28 KJV)
It is these disobedient citizens, which will be dealt with in wrath at the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Israel. There are many who follow ‘Dispensational Teaching’ and believe that at the Return of the Jesus Christ, those of the nation of Israel who don’t believe in Jesus as the Christ will repent and believe when they see Him coming in the clouds of heaven in order to be saved instantly.
However, upon His Return, the Lord Jesus Christ has another fate in mind when He finishes the parable in Luke 19:27.
“But those mine enemies, which would not
that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” (Luke
In addition to these very Words of Jesus Christ (the King of Israel), there is the inspired testimony of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul taught that unbelieving Israelites were ‘cut-off’ from the Israel of God, which is the Good Olive Tree, for their unbelief in Jesus as the Christ and King of Israel
Just because the nation as a whole did not recognized Jesus as their King, did not make Him illegitimate. The Jews rejected Jesus to their own peril.
The Apostle Paul also taught that the New Covenant and its
children REPLACED the
Old Covenant and its children (Galatians
That which is eternal replaced that which was temporary,
because that which was temporary was a mere parenthesis in the overall plan. That which is eternal is preferred before
that which was temporary, and that which was temporary only prepared the way
for that which is eternal. This is not
some great mystery, I speak concerning the Covenants. Galatians 4:21-31 teaches that the bondwoman
and her son are cast out (Galatians
The Apostle Paul teaches us that at the coming of the Lord, the disobedient and unbelievers towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be destroyed. We read of no space for a ‘national repentance for the unbelievers of the nation of Israel’ here, because when Jesus comes again, there will be no time for anyone to be saved. It will be too late to be saved at His Coming, according to 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 compare with Malachi 4:1-3!
Some of those that follow ‘Dispensational Teaching’ believe that Zechariah 12:10 teaches this ‘national repentance for the unbelievers of the nation of Israel’ doctrine, but the Apostle John disagrees. The Apostle John taught that the Scripture ‘they shall look upon him whom they pierced’ in Zechariah 12:10 was fulfilled in John 19:37 at the crucifixion of Jesus!
Whose testimony will you receive? Will you receive the Apostolic Testimony, or will you receive the ‘Dispensational Testimony?’ Since the Apostolic Testimony is the New Testament Writings themselves, I will vote with that Testimony.
Since the Apostolic Testimony declares that the Messianic Prophetic Scripture Zechariah 12:10 is fulfilled in John 19:37 at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, then that is the testimony that we as Christians should follow, believing and teaching that Truth.
Another point to be made here is that if God allows one nation of unbelievers to believe and repent at His Second Coming and be saved instantly, then this liberty would have to be extended to all the other nations of unbelievers, because otherwise those that follow and preach ‘Dispensational Teaching’ in the above manner make God a respecter of persons in their doctrine.
If one nation of unbelievers can repent and be saved instantly at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, then all nations of unbelievers should have that same opportunity.
This is because God declares that He is not a respecter of persons many times throughout the Scriptures (Proverbs 24:23, Proverbs 28:21, Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25, James 2:1, James 2:9, 1 Peter 1:17). God is not any respecter of persons!
Those Jews and Gentiles who reject Jesus’ Kingship over
their lives will be lost forever.
According to Mark 16:16, all them that believe not shall be damned, and
of course this will include unbelieving Jews.
In fact, it includes them first, because the Gospel is to them first
(Romans
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is the sincere hope and prayer of the author that this Biblical concept, ‘the throne of David,’ has been presented in a clear and concise manner. Jesus of Nazareth legally inherited the ‘throne of David’ according to His flesh through the ancient ‘royal bloodline’ of King David by His mother Mary. The LORD GOD gave this ‘throne of David’ to Jesus at Birth. This made Jesus of Nazareth the King (Ruler) over the entire nation of Israel, and of His reign there shall be no end (Luke 1:31-33).
Those Israelites of national Israel that rejected His
reign were cut-off from among the people Israel. That is why the Apostle Paul teaches us that
they are not all
Those Israelites of national
They too became of this Israel of God, which is the Good Olive Tree of Romans Chapter 11. Thus these Gentiles also became the seed of Abraham, the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, according to Galatians 3:21-29 and Galatians 6:15-16.
These believers in Jesus Christ, who have been obedient to
His Gospel of the New Covenant by grace through faith as found in Acts 2:4/Acts
2:38 (Jews) and Acts 10:44-48 (Gentiles), are now joint-heirs according to the
promise (Romans 8:17). King Jesus reigns
NOW upon the ‘throne
of David’ over His Church, which is the
Thus, Jesus Christ is the King of Israel over the Israel of God, His Israel. Reign on, reign on, King Jesus, your Elect Saints praise and worship you now and forevermore! Power, honor, and glory to the Lamb!
Dispensationalists can dispute all day long that you are not currently reigning upon the throne of your father David over the house of Jacob, but the Bible is against them and their lies. We know that you were ‘born King.’