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| David (Israel), King of Israel & Judah | |
| Also Known As: King David |
| Burial: CITY OF DAVID, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL |
| Annointed by: Samuel |
| Reference: 3043 |
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Individual:
King David
David, from the Hebrew word pronounced daw-veed, meaning beloved, is one of the
best known people of all of the Scriptures (see Old Testament Fact File and New
Testament Fact File). David was of the tribe of Judah (see Children of Jacob and
The Chosen People), and is a direct physical ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matthew
1:1-17)
David was born about 1040 B.C., the eighth and youngest son of Jesse of
Bethlehem (see also Ruth). Little is recorded of David's parents - Jesse was
apparently of modest means, and there is no record of David's mother's name,
although there has been speculation that she was Nahash (2 Samuel 17:25).
David's appearance is not known in great detail, however we do know that he was
described as handsome, had red hair (i.e. "ruddy"), and was relatively short in
stature (1 Samuel 16:12, 17:42).
David was a Shepherd, which out of necessity at the time also taught him
fighting skills when defending the flocks from predatory wild animals, including
lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-35). In quieter times, he also developed his
musical skills with the flute and harp.
After God rejected the foolish and corrupt Saul, Israel's first king, He sent
Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint David as the successor (1 Samuel 16:1-13). The
transition would be gradual however. David returned to caring for the sheep, but
"The Spirit of The Lord came upon David from that day forward," (1 Samuel 16:13)
and "The Spirit of The Lord departed from Saul" (1 Samuel 16:14).
David served King Saul from time to time as a musician and armor bearer (1
Samuel 16:21-23). It is quite certain that Saul did not yet know that his young
harp player would soon take his place as king. If he had, he would have killed
him - just as he actually tried to do over and over again later.
Then followed one of the most famous incidents of The Bible - David And Goliath
(1 Samuel 17:1-58) in the valley of Elah, about 15 miles / 24 kilometers
southwest of Bethlehem. David's defeat of Goliath put the Philistines to flight
and resulted in a great victory for Israel. The heroic act made David a favorite
of the people, much to the disfavor and jealousy of Saul (1 Samuel 18:6-16).
From then on, Saul wanted David killed, and personally made a number of attempts
(1 Samuel chapters 18-30).
When Saul made his first attempt to kill David, the young shepherd fled to
Samuel in Ramah where he was given refuge for a time among the prophets (1
Samuel 19:12-18). Some are of the opinion that David composed the 6th, 7th and
11th Psalms while he was there.
When Saul discovered David's whereabouts, David fled again, this time to Nob (1
Samuel 21:1-9), and then to Gath among the Philistines. The Philistine king
refused him, so David continued over to Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1-4, 1 Chronicles
12:8-18) where 400 men joined him and accepted him as their leader.
In the mean time, upon the orders of Saul, Doeg the Edomite murdered 85 priests
and their families who had innocently given refuge to David at Nob. The news of
the massacre reached David by the sole survivor, Abiathar, a son of the high
priest Ahimelech (1 Samuel 22:11-23)
For a while, David found himself in the rather bizarre situation of fighting
Saul's enemies and fleeing Saul at the same time. David and his men drove the
Philistines from Keilah (1 Samuel 23:1-14) and then moved to the hill country of
Judah to escape Saul. While there, David met with Jonathan, Saul's son, who had
been, and always remained, a loyal friend with David (1 Samuel 23:16-18).
Jonathan was killed in battle with the Philistines not long after.
Although Saul would readily have killed David, David refused to lift his sword
against Saul. David actually saved Saul's life on occasion during all the time
that Saul was hunting him (1 Samuel 24:10, 26:9). David remained a fugitive
until Saul was killed in battle against the Philistines near Mount Gilboa (1
Samuel 31:1-6)
Upon Saul's death, David went to Hebron where he was anointed as king of Judah,
according to The Lord's instructions, at about age 30 (2 Samuel 2:1-4). A seven
and a half year civil war followed between the forces that supported David, and
those that supported Ish-bosheth, Saul's only surviving son, for the kingship of
all Israel. The military and political situation grew steadily in favor of David
however, and when Ish-bosheth was assassinated, David was anointed king over all
Israel (2 Samuel 4:1-12, 5:1-5).
David then moved his capital from Hebron to Jebus, an earlier name for
Jerusalem: "The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites,
who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, "You will not get in here; even
the blind and the lame can ward you off." They thought, "David cannot get in
here." Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David." (2
Samuel 5:6-7 NIV)
David then brought The Ark Of The Covenant to the new capital city of Jerusalem
(2 Samuel chapter 6) (in illustration above) from the house of Abinadab (2
Samuel 6:3) at Kirjath-jearim, about 7 miles / 11 kilometers from Jerusalem,
where it had been for many years. It was during this movement that The Lord put
Uzzah to death for touching The Ark (only the Levites were permitted to touch
it). David then became afraid to have The Ark in the City of David, so he left
it in the house of Obed-Edom, a Philistine from Gath (2 Samuel 6:9-11). Three
months later, David brought The Ark to Jerusalem where it was placed in a new
tabernacle that David set up for it. It had been about seventy years since The
Ark had been in the original Tabernacle In The Wilderness (see also What
Happened To The Tabernacle?).
David's rise to greatness was characterized by great territorial gains for
Israel (2 Samuel 8:1-14). Within a relatively short period of time, he ruled
from The Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in the The Tigris-Euphrates
Valley (2 Samuel 8:3-13) (see also Solomon's Kingdom).
As has happened with so many of the great, David's success was focused too
heavily on material gains, and it corrupted him. His committing of adultery with
Bathsheba, and the murder of her husband Uriah in an attempt to cover it up was
perhaps the darkest event of his life. David truly repented of it, and God did
forgive him.
David's troubles were far from over however. His many wives and children were
constantly in fierce competition with each other within the family. One of
David's sons, Amnon, assaulted his step sister Tamar, for which the girl's
brother Absalom killed him. Absalom later attempted to take over the kingdom
from his father David which triggered a civil war.
Despite his human faults, David was always a dedicated and repentant man of God
who served God's purpose in that stage of Bible History. After a reign of forty
years and six months (2 Samuel 5:5, 1 Chronicles 3:4) David died at the age of
seventy, "and was buried in the city of David." (1 Kings 2:10-11)
Fact Finder: Which of David's sons succeeded him as king of Israel?
1 Kings 2:12
See also Solomon
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The Throne Of David
"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow
out of his roots. And the Spirit of The Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of
knowledge and the fear of The Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of The
Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the
meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and
with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked." (Isaiah 11:1-4 RSV)
When the Israelites left Egypt in the Exodus, The Lord was their King (1 Samuel
8:7). Through His servants Moses and Aaron, He led them, He taught them (see The
Ten Commandments), He protected them, He even fed them (see What Was Manna?) -
and as such, they were unbeatable.
The people however eventually decided that they didn't want The Lord as their
King; they wanted a mere man instead - the greatest blunder made by humans
during Bible History since Adam and Eve.
"But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No!
but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and
that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles." And
when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the
ears of The Lord. And The Lord said to Samuel, "Hearken to their voice, and
make them a king." Samuel then said to the men of Israel, "Go every man to his
city." (1 Samuel 8:19-22 RSV)
After their first choice for a king, Saul, proved to be a poor leader, David
assumed the position - beginning a long line of kings of the Israelites (see
Kings of Israel and Judah). The Lord permitted it, and is allowing it to play
itself out for His purpose. But, He never surrendered His Throne to anyone. He
has merely allowed humans to maintain its existence until The Rightful Owner
comes.
From the line of David was eventually born The Savior (see The Chosen People).
Jesus Christ is the legitimate heir to that throne, but He is also the origin of
that same throne because The Logos of God that allowed humans to occupy it in
the first place was the same Who was later born as Jesus Christ (see Rock Of
Ages). The "Throne of David" has in fact always belonged to Jesus Christ, and it
always will.
Fact Finder: Is Jesus Christ both the "Root and the Offspring" of King David?
Revelation 22:16
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