A Word document is available for printing this page. It allows you to teach this material over Although David's name is written only ten times in all the book of Isaiah, his memory was highly honoured in Isaiah's time. King David had established the throne in Jerusalem almost three centuries earlier. He was the patriarch and hero of Jerusalem’s royal family. This lesson observes seven attributes "of David" mentioned in Isaiah, and what they signify for us.
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In Isaiah's time, the royal family of Jerusalem was known as "the house of David" because it descended from King David who had established the throne in Jerusalem almost three centuries earlier.
At David’s death, his son Solomon had become king. However Solomon, whose name is not written at all in Isaiah, had sinned against God. Therefore Solomon’s son Rehoboam was allowed to be king only of Judah and the little tribe of Benjamin attached to it. All the other ten tribes of Israel became a second and separate kingdom. A new throne, a new royal family, and a new capital city was established to the north in Samaria. As for Judah, the royal house of David continued to reign in Jerusalem, the "city of David"
Isaiah was a prophet in Judah during the reign of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
Christ in the house of David
Isaiah is aware that the Messiah (Christ) will be born in the house or lineage of David. Isaiah says that Christ comes from "the root of Jesse"
Isaiah always kept in mind that God had sworn with an oath to David to seat one of his descendants upon his throne to rule forever
Although Isaiah speaks of many lamentable things, there is this strong hope
Christ on the throne of David
More centuries went by before Peter proclaimed the fulfillment of this promise shortly after Christ had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven
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The kingship of Christ is combined with his high priesthood. Just as the throne of David had foreshadowed Christ’s kingship, the "tabernacle of David" symbolised Christ’s priesthood
The word "tabernacle" means a temporary or portable dwelling such as a tent. The house of worship in David's time was still a tabernacle. David wished to build a more substantial house for God, but God would not let him. It was David’s son who built the great temple to replace the tabernacle
Likewise, centuries later in the time of Christ, Jerusalem boasted a brand new temple. The disciples of Jesus admired it, yet Jesus told them to see those beautiful buildings as something destined for complete destruction
By building a glorious temple, man is liable to patronise God rather than being humble before him. Through Isaiah the Lord points this out most clearly
Christ in the tabernacle of David
As a symbol of Christ's priesthood, the "tabernacle of David" is more fitting than any of the temples. For Christ "humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross"
The Hebrew writer, after describing the tabernacle, says, "Christ did not enter a holy place made by human hands, a copy of the true one, rather he entered heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us"
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It was David himself who called Jerusalem or Zion "the city of David" after he had taken the city from the Jebusites
A century after Isaiah’s time Jerusalem was destroyed. On its ashes and rubble a new city was painfully rebuilt. Forty years after the time of Christ the city was destroyed again. Yet today it stands as a great and special city upon the earth.
Christ in the city of David
The earthly city of David is merely a symbol of the heavenly Jerusalem, the true and eternal city of God where all true followers of Christ will dwell forever
Jesus was referring to this heavenly city when he said, "In My Father’s house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you"
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In the vision of Christ which John saw, Christ said to John, "I have the keys of death and of Hades"
The "key of David" represents this very thing. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, explained that "David, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay."
Christ and the key of David
Referring to this passage in Isaiah
Only Jesus the King of kings, who now and forevermore sits on David's throne, has the power to give or deny eternal life. When he opens heaven for you, nobody can shut you out. If he shuts you out, nobody can let you in He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"
David was God’s servant (and a symbol of Christ the Servant) therefore God was pleased to describe himself to Hezekiah as "the God of your father David". This shows God’s commitment to David, and David’s commitment to God. However it represents also God’s commitment to Christ, and Christ’s commitment to his heavenly Father. But Isaiah forces us to take the relationship between God and Christ much further,
Christ as the God of David
Isaiah makes it clear that the Christ who reigns on the throne of David is God
Finally, in his last mention of David, Isaiah speaks of "the sure (or faithful) mercies of David" that is to say the blessings which God bestowed upon him. The heart of these blessings is that God has compassion and abundantly pardons those who forsake their wickedness and return to him
Christ and the Blessings of David
The "sure mercies of David" represent God’s compassion for the whole world and his willingness to forgive all sins through Christ
Isaiah looked forward to the Christ who was willing to "render himself as a guilt offering" and who "poured himself out unto death" and thus "bore the sin of many"