The people of Israel stood before Adonai’s appointed judge, the prophet Samuel. Four hundred years had passed since Israel left Egypt, and throughout that time Adonai had faithfully led His people. With the giving of His Torah through Moses, the God of Israel had become their King (Deu. 33:2-5), and by the hands of His judges, He had delivered them from all their enemies. But now they assembled before Samuel and announced their arrogant request: “Give us a king to judge us,” they cried, “that we also may be like all the nations” (1Sa. 8:6&20, esv).

Though Samuel was displeased by these words, he brought the matter to God, and the reply he received was startling. “Obey the voice of the people,” Adonai told Samuel, “for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1Sa. 8:7). Israel had deposed their God—their protector and King—by seeking to put a man in His place on the throne. Yet He granted their disloyal request. With a strong warning not to turn aside from following Him, God designated a king for Israel. Nevertheless, it was just a short time before that man rebelled against God’s authority (1Sa. 15:23). Though Israel had received the king they asked for, God had a plan to repair the kingdom, and to heal the rift created by this usurping kingship.

“What is in your mind shall never happen [when you say], ‘Let us be like the nations….’ As I live, declares the Lord GOD… I will be king over you.” (Ezekiel 20:32-33, esv)

God began to cure Israel’s rebellion against His reign by giving the kingdom to His special servant: David, a humble shepherd. As a man after God’s own heart, David was uniquely qualified to submit to and carry out God’s will for the kingdom (Acts 13:22, cf. 1Sa. 13:14). In his devotion to following God wholeheartedly, David used his kingship to exalt God as the rightful possessor of the kingdom (Psa. 22:28), and acclaimed His authority over Israel (Psalm 68:34). Inviting Him to enter and reign on the holy hill of Zion, David called Adonai the King of glory (Psalm 24:3,9-10), enthroned upon the praise of Israel (Psalm 22:3). In this way, the human king declared God as the rightful ruler and followed His commands. Through His faithful servant, God had brought Israel’s rebellious human throne into submission.

And yet, there was still a problem. David was just a man.

Though David sought after God with all his heart and faithfully obeyed His will, the throne on which he sat was a throne designed to supplant God’s position and put a human being in authority over Israel. A man was still sitting where God belonged. The rebels of Samuel’s day still had what they wanted; Israel still had a king “like all the nations.” And yet, Adonai’s word remained that He would be king over Israel and would sit on that throne… and through David, He was preparing to fulfill that promise.

God made a covenant with David that He would put one of his sons on the throne forever (1Ch. 17:11-14). This Son would reign on the throne of David in justice and righteousness eternally (Isa. 9:7). In line with David’s faithful obedience, the promised Son would rule not in rebellion, but in submission and obedience to the will of God. Like David before him, he would be a humble king (Zec. 9:9). But more than that, this Son was to finish the work that David had started by solving the great mystery: how could God ever return to His throne, when Israel had rejected His Kingship for the rule of men, and when He had promised that a Son of David would reign on the throne forever?

After a thousand years, the Answer to the question arrived. Despite being one with and equal to God, this One—this Yeshua—emptied Himself and took the form of a man (Phi. 2:6-7). He came from the lineage of David and lived among us in the flesh (Rom. 1:3; John 1:14). As the blameless, humble Son, heir to the throne which rebellious Israel had erected, Yeshua submitted Himself fully to God, even in His unwarranted execution (Phi. 2:8; Mat. 27:35-37). By his innocent death, Yeshua bore the sins of His people, and the centuries of rebellion and rejection were atoned for. The straying flock of Israel were cleansed and given a path of return to their Shepherd (1Pe. 2:24-25; cf. Isa. 53:4-7). Then, this King Yeshua was raised up from the grave, officially exalted to the throne over Israel and given the Name above every name (Phi. 2:9). The Word who is God now reigns on David’s throne, and Israel can approach their true King unhindered, with a pure heart, declaring that “Yeshua the Messiah is Adonai, to the glory of God the Father” (Phi. 2:10-11, mjlt).

Through Yeshua, Adonai has fulfilled His promise to restore the throne to Himself, and now offers healing and reconciliation to His people. The Exalted One waits on the throne of David, calling His people to cry out to Him, “Blessed is He who is coming in the Name of Adonai” (Mat. 23:29, mjlt; cf. Psalm 118:26). Let us pray for that long-awaited day, when Israel’s acceptance will bring “life out of the dead,” (Rom. 11:15) and the King of Glory will enter Jerusalem once more, enthroned upon His people’s praise.

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