Introduction to Bible Basics
Lesson 7
The Promises of God
The promise made to David, and the king who will sit on his throne.
Where we are going
One promise, then another
God promised Abraham that in him and his seed (descendant) all families of the earth would be blessed.
Study 5 showed that the one descendant who would bring blessing to the earth was Jesus. This is the subject of clear teaching in the New Testament. Galatians 3 v 16.
Lesson 7
By the end of this lesson
You will be able to:
- Trace the line from Abraham through Egypt to the first kings of Israel
- State what God promised David, and what he did not
- Show the same three points running through the promise, the prophets and the angel's message
- Explain where the kingdom will be, and who will rule it
- Say what guarantee the apostles gave that it will happen
Part 1 of 4
From Abraham to a king
Between the promise to Abraham and the promise to David lie four hundred years of slavery, a departure, and a nation settling into a land.
From Abraham to a king
Faith, and the one descendant
Abraham is used as an example of faith, and we are told that if we want to show our faith we must live our lives as Abraham did, trusting God and being obedient to His will.
Check your understanding 1 of 10
From Abraham to a king
Out of Egypt
The nation of Israel, who descended from Abraham, were slaves in Egypt. They were led out of Egypt by Moses after ten terrible plagues had forced the Egyptians to recognize that there was a God in heaven who was in control of world affairs. The Book of Exodus (the name means ‘departure’) tells us about these events.
Exodus means departure.
Check your understanding 2 of 10
Check your understanding 3 of 10
From Abraham to a king
A land, and then a king
At last the nation of Israel settled in the land of Canaan where Abraham had lived.
Their first king was Saul, and the second was David, who wrote many of the Psalms.
From Abraham to a king
A thousand years, in order
Put the steps in order.
Put them in orderUse the arrows to move each one up or down
From the promise to Abraham to the throne of David.
- Israel settles in the promised land
- Abraham's descendants go down into Egypt
- God makes his promises to Abraham
- David is made king in Saul's place
- God brings Israel out of Egypt under Moses
- Israel asks for a king, and Saul is given them
Check your understanding 4 of 10
Part 2 of 4
The promise to David
David wanted to build God a house. God changed it around and gave David a promise instead.
The promise to David
A promise sworn in truth
In the Psalms David says that God had made a special promise to him.
“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”
Psalm 132 v 11
The promise to David
The promise, with the two words missing
Put back the two words it repeats.
Put the missing words backSelect a word, then select the gap it fills
“And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for before thee: thy shall be established for ever”2 Samuel 7 v 16
The promise to David
The house David wanted to build
David, when his kingdom was established and the nation was at peace, wanted to build a temple, or a house of worship, for God.
The prophet Nathan was sent to David to tell him that although God did not want him to build a house, God would establish David's royal house, and one in his royal line would rule over his kingdom for ever.
“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever ... And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever”
2 Samuel 7 v 12 to 13 and 16
Check your understanding 5 of 10
The promise to David
Three points in those verses
Open each one.
The promise did not refer to Solomon, David's son, because God said that the “throne of his kingdom” would be established for ever. Although Solomon was noted for his riches and for his wisdom, he certainly did not reign for ever.
In verse 14 Nathan the prophet tells David that God would be the father of this great king who would come in his line.
“I will be his father, and he shall be my son”
2 Samuel 7 v 14
The king would rule on David's throne. 2 Samuel 7 v 12.
God declares that He will bring it to pass. 2 Samuel 7 v 12.
Check your understanding 6 of 10
Part 3 of 4
The teaching of the prophets
The same points are emphasized throughout the Bible. Once you have them, you start seeing them everywhere.
The prophets
A passage you have heard at Christmas
Read the following passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah which is often quoted at Christmas time and see the same three points.
“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 for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this”
Isaiah 9 v 6 to 7
The same points are stressed.
- “Of his government... there shall be no end.”
- “Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom.”
- “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this”.
The prophets
A shoot from a cut-down tree
Jesse was David's father.
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots”
Isaiah 11 v 1
Check your understanding 7 of 10
The prophets
There is no doubt who it is
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary before the birth of Jesus and told her,
“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 for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end”
Luke 1 v 32 to 33
Notice the same three points again -
- The kingdom would be established for ever.
- He would rule on David's throne.
- God would bring it to pass.
Check your understanding 8 of 10
The prophets
Mary's song of rejoicing
Later in the same chapter Luke records a wonderful song of rejoicing in which Mary praised God for His promises. A remarkable feature of it is that although the angel told Mary that the child would be born to fulfil the promise God made to David, Mary thanked God for the promise that He had made to Abraham.
“He hath holpen his servant Israel ... as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever”
Luke 1 v 54 to 55
She must have realized by her understanding of the purpose of God that both of these promises would be fulfilled in the same individual.
The prophets
Who said it about the coming king?
Match each to what they said.
Match themSelect one on the left, then its partner on the right
Who said what?
Part 4 of 4
The kingdom, and the guarantee
A throne implies a place. The Bible is specific about where, and it gives a reason to believe it will happen.
The kingdom
A real kingdom on the earth
There can be no doubt that the kingdom which Jesus came to proclaim was a real kingdom on the earth.
He would be the king and his followers would also have positions of rulership. Jesus told his disciples
“When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”
Matthew 19 v 28
It was the purpose of God in the beginning to fill the earth with His glory and with peace.
“As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord”
Numbers 14 v 21
This will happen when Jesus returns to the earth as King.
Check your understanding 9 of 10
The kingdom
Peter, on the day of Pentecost
One of the main points that Peter made in his address on the Day of Pentecost was that Jesus was the great descendant of David that God had promised. Peter referred to the Psalm we have already quoted to show that David looked forward to the establishment of the Kingdom with Christ as king.
Peter was speaking within walking distance of David's tomb. What is the one fact about David that he could point to, and nobody in the crowd could deny?
“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 2 v 29 to 30
The apostle also explained that the resurrection of Jesus was a sure sign that the promise God had made to David would be fulfilled. “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses”. Acts 2 v 32.
Peter said that David understood that the time would come when the Almighty would say to the Lord Jesus Christ, “Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool”. Acts 2 v 34 to 35.
The apostle then said, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ”. Acts 2 v 36.
The kingdom
God's guarantee
Paul summed up the wonderful hope which the Bible offers when he was speaking to the people of Athens:
“He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead”
Acts 17 v 31
It is an event.
Check your understanding 10 of 10
Lesson 7
Summary
- In the Bible God has revealed His purpose with the earth.
- Abraham and David were told by God that the one through whom this purpose would be fulfilled would be in their line.
- Jesus was the one promised.
- He will rule the world in righteousness when the kingdom of God is established.
- This hope, based on the foundation of Old Testament teaching, was contained clearly in the message of Jesus and the apostles.
Before you go
Passages for Bible reading
Read these passages
- Isaiah 11
- Acts 2
- Romans 4
- Isaiah 35
- Psalm 132
- Luke 19
Have a question?
Ask your tutor
You have finished lesson 7
You followed the line from Abraham through Egypt to Israel's first kings, saw what God promised David and what he did not, watched the same three points run through the prophets and the angel's message, and saw where the kingdom will be.
Lesson 7 complete
Next: Lesson 8, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Paul called the resurrection God's guarantee. The next lesson looks at the evidence for it, and at what it means for everyone else.
Go to lesson 8