Part 5. From David to the Babylonian Captivity

I come now to the fifth period of the times of the Old Testament, beginning with David, and extending to the Babylonish captivity; and would now proceed to show how the work of redemption was carried on through this period also. And here,

I. The first thing to be taken notice of, is God's anointing that person that was to be the ancestor of Christ, to be king over his people. The dispensations of Providence that have been taken notice of through the last period, from Moses to this time, respect the people whence Christ was to proceed. But now the scripture history leads us to consider God's providence towards that particular person whence Christ was to proceed, namely, David. It pleased God at this time remarkably to select out that person of whom Christ was to come, from all the thousands of Israel, and to put a most honorable mark of distinction upon him, by anointing him to be king over his people. It was only God that could find him out. His father's house is spoken of as being little in Israel, and he was the youngest of all the sons of his father, and was least expected to be the man that God had chosen by Samuel. God had before, in the former ages of the world, remarkably distinguished the persons from whom Christ was to come; as he did Seth, and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. But the last we have any account of God's marking out in any notable manner, the very person of whom Christ was to come, was in Jacob's blessing his son Judah; unless we reckon Nahshon's advancement in the wilderness to be the prince of the tribe of Judah. But this distinction of the person of whom Christ was to come, in David, was very honorable; for it was God's anointing him to be king over his people. There was something further denoted by David's anointing, than was in the anointing of Saul. God anointed Saul to be king personally; but God intended something further by sending Samuel to anoint David, namely, to establish the crown of Israel in him and in his family, as long as Israel continued to be a kingdom; and not only so, but what was infinitely more still, establishing the crown of his universal church, his spiritual Israel, in his seed, to the end of the world, and throughout all eternity.

This was a great dispensation of God, and a great step taken towards a further advancing of the work of redemption, according as the time drew near wherein Christ was to come. David, as he was the ancestor of Christ, so he was the greatest personal type of Christ of all under the Old Testament. The types of Christ were of three sorts; types of institution, or instituted types, and providential and personal types. The ordinance of sacrificing was the greatest of the instituted types; and the redemption out of Egypt was the greatest of the providential types; and David the greatest of the personal types. Hence Christ is often called David in the prophecies of scripture; as Ezekiel 34:23-24. "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David;—My servant David a prince among them" and so in many other places: and he is very often spoken of as the seed of David, and the son of David.

David being the ancestor and great type of Christ, his being solemnly anointed by God to be king over his people, that the kingdom of his church might be continued in his family for ever, may in some respects be looked on as an anointing of Christ himself. Christ was as it were anointed in him; and therefore Christ's anointing and David's anointing, are spoken of under one in scripture, as Psalm 89:20. "I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him." And David's throne and Christ's are spoken of as one: Luke 1:32. "And the Lord shall give him the throne of his father David" Acts 2:30. "David—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 set on his throne." Thus God's beginning of the kingdom of his church in the house of David, was, as it were, a new establishing of the kingdom of Christ; the beginning of it in a state of such visibility as it thenceforward continued in. It was as it were God's planting the root, whence that branch of righteousness was afterwards to spring up, that was to be the everlasting king of his church; and therefore this everlasting king is called the branch from the stem of Jesse. Isaiah 11:1. "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." Jeremiah 23:5, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper." So chapter 33:15, "In those days, and at that time, I will cause the branch of righteousness to grow up to David, and he shall execute judgement and righteousness in the land." So Christ in the New Testament, is called the root and offspring of David, Revelation 22:16.

It is observable, that God anointed David after Saul to reign in his room. He took away the crown from him and his family, who was higher in stature than any of his people, and was in their eyes fittest to bear rule, to give it to David, who was low of stature, and in comparison, of despicable appearance: so God was pleased to show how Christ, who appeared despicable, without form or comeliness, and was despised and rejected of men, should take the kingdom from the great ones of the earth. And also it is observable, that David was the youngest of Jesse's sons, as Jacob the younger brother supplanted Esau, and got the birthright and blessing from him: and as Pharez, another of Christ's ancestors, supplanted Zarah in the birth; and as Isaac, another of the ancestors of Christ, cast out his elder brother Ishmael; thus was that frequent saying of Christ fulfilled, "The last shall be first, and the first last."

II. The next thing I would observe, is God's so preserving David's life, by a series of wonderful providences, till Saul's death. I before took notice of the wonderful preservation of other particular persons that were the ancestors of Christ; as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; and have observed how, in that Christ the great Redeemer was to proceed from them, that in their preservation, the work of redemption itself may be looked upon as preserved from being defeated, and the whole church, which is redeemed through him from being overthrown. But the preservation of David was no less remarkable than that of any others that have been already taken notice of. How often was it so, that there was but a step between him and death. The first instance of it we have in his encountering a lion and a bear, when they had caught a lamb out of his flock, which, without miraculous assistance, could at once have rent this young stripling in pieces, as they could the lamb that he delivered from them: so afterwards the root and offspring of David was preserved from the roaring lion that goes about seeking whom he may devour, and conquered him, and rescued the poor souls of men, that were as lambs in the mouth of this lion. Another remarkable instance was, in preserving him from that mighty giant Goliath, who was strong enough to have taken him, and picked him to pieces with his fingers, and given his flesh to the beasts of the field, and to the fowls of the air, as he threatened him: but God preserved him from him, and gave him the victory over him, so that he cut off his head with his own sword, and made him therein the deliverer of his people; as Christ slew the spiritual Goliath with his own weapon, the cross, and so delivered his people. And how remarkably did God preserve him from being slain by Saul, when he first sought his life, by giving him his daughter to be a snare to him, that the hand of the Philistines might be upon him, requiring him to pay for her by an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that so his life might be exposed to them; and in preserving him afterwards, when Saul spake to Jonathan, and to all his servants, to kill David; and in inclining Jonathan, instead of his killing him, as his father bade him, to love him as his own soul, and to be a great instrument of his preservation, even so as to expose his own life to preserve David; though one would have thought that none would have been more willing to have David killed than Jonathan, seeing that he was competitor with him for his father's crown; and again saving him, when Saul threw a javelin at him, to smite him even to the wall; and again preserving him when he sent messengers to his house, to watch him, when Michal Saul's daughter let him down through a window; and when he afterwards sent messengers, once and again, to Naioth in Ramah, to take him, and they were remarkably prevented time after time, by being seized with miraculous impressions of the spirit of God; and afterwards when Saul, being resolute in the affair, went himself, he also was among the prophets. And after this, how wonderfully was David's life preserved at Gath among the Philistines, when he went to Achish the king of Gath, and was there in the hands of the Philistines, who, one would have thought, would have dispatched him at once, he having so much provoked them by his exploits against them; he was again wonderfully preserved at Keilah, when he had entered into a town, where Saul thought he was sure of him. How wonderfully was he preserved from Saul, when he pursued and hunted him in the mountains? How remarkably did God deliver him in the wilderness of Maon, when Saul and his army were compassing David about? How was he delivered in the cave of Engedi, when, instead of Saul's killing David, God delivered Saul into his hands in the cave, and he cut off his skirt, and might as easily have cut off his head; and afterwards delivering him in like manner in the wilderness of Ziph; and afterwards again preserving him in the land of the Philistines, though David had fought against the Philistines, and conquered them at Keilah, since he was last among them; which one would think, would have been sufficient warning to them not to trust him, or let him escape a second time, if ever they had him in their hands again; but yet now, when they had a second opportunity, God wonderfully turned their hearts to him to be friend and protect him, instead of destroying him.

Thus was the precious seed that virtually contained the Redeemer, and all the blessings of his redemption, wonderfully preserved, when hell and earth were conspired against it to destroy it. How often does David himself take notice of this, with praise and admiration, in the book of Psalms?

III. About this time, the written word of God, or the canon of scripture, was added to by Samuel. I have before observed, how that the canon of scripture was begun, and the first written word of God, the first written rule of faith and manners that ever was, was given to the church about Moses's time: and many, and I know not but most divines, think it was added to by Joshua, and that he wrote the last chapter of Deuteronomy, and most of the book of Joshua. Others think that Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and part of the first book of Samuel, were written by Samuel. However that was, this we have good evidence of, that Samuel made an addition to the canon of scripture; for Samuel is manifestly mentioned in the New Testament, as one of the prophets whose writings we have in the scriptures, in that forementioned Acts 3:24. "Yea and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of those days." By that expression, "as many as have spoken," cannot be meant, as many as have spoken by word of mouth; for never was any prophet but what did that: but the meaning must be, as many as have spoken by writing, so that what they have spoken has come down to us, that we may see what it is.

The way that Samuel spoke of these times of Christ and the gospel, was by giving the history of those things that typified them, and pointed to them, particularly the things concerning David that he wrote. The Spirit of God moved him to commit those things to writing, chiefly for that reason, because they pointed to Christ, and the times of the gospel; and, as was said before, this was the main business of all that succession of prophets, that began in Samuel, to foreshow those times.

That Samuel added to the canon of the scriptures seems further to appear from 1 Chronicles 29:29. "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer."

Whether the book of Joshua was written by Samuel or not, yet it is the general opinion of divines, that the books of Judges, and Ruth, and part of the first book of Samuel, were penned by him. The book of Ruth was penned for that reason, because though it seemed to treat of private affairs, yet the persons chiefly spoken of in that book were of the family whence David and Christ proceeded, and so pointed to what the apostle Peter observed of Samuel and the other prophets, in the third chapter of Acts. The thus adding to the canon of the scriptures, the great and main instrument of the application of redemption, is to be looked upon as a further carrying on of that work, and an addition made to that great building.

4. Another thing God did towards this work, at that time, was his inspiring David to show forth Christ and his redemption, in divine songs, which should be for the use of the church, in public worship, throughout all ages. David was himself endued with the spirit of prophecy. He is called a prophet, Acts 2:29-30. "Let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day: therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath," etc. So that herein he was a type of Christ, that he was both a prophet and king. We have no certain account of the time when David was first endued with the spirit of prophecy; but it is manifest, that it either was at the time that Samuel anointed him, or very soon after; for he appears soon after acted by this spirit, in the affair of Goliath: and then great part of the Psalms were penned in the time of his troubles, before he came to the crown; as might be made manifest by an induction of particulars.

The oil that was used in anointing David was a type of the spirit of God; and the type and the antitype were given both together; as we are told, 1 Samuel 16:13. "Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the spirit of the Lord came down upon David from that day forward:" and it is probable, that it now came upon him in its prophetical influences.

The way that this spirit influenced him was, to inspire him to show forth Christ, and the glorious things of his redemption, in divine songs, sweetly expressing the breathings of a pious soul, full of admiration of the glorious things of the Redeemer, inflamed with divine love, and lifted up with praise; and therefore he is called the sweet psalmist of Israel. 2 Samuel 23:1. "Now these be the last words of David: David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel." The main subjects of these sweet songs were the glorious things of the gospel; as is evident by the interpretation that is often put upon them, and the use that is made of them in the New Testament; for there is no one book of the Old Testament that is so often quoted in the New, as the book of Psalms. Joyfully did this holy man sing of those great things of Christ's redemption, that had been the hope and expectation of God's church and people from the beginning of the church of God on earth; and joyfully did others follow him in it, as Asaph, Heman, Ethan, and others; for the book of Psalms was not all penned by David, though the greater part of it was. Hereby the canon of scripture was further added to; and an excellent portion of divine writ was it that was added.

This was a great advancement that God made in this building; and the light of the gospel, which had been gradually growing from the fall, was exceedingly increased by it: for whereas before there was but here and there a prophecy given of Christ in a great many ages, now here Christ is spoken of by his ancestor David abundantly, in multitudes of songs, speaking of his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, his satisfaction, intercession; his prophetical, kingly, and priestly office; his glorious benefits in this life and that which is to come; his union with the church, and blessedness of the church in him; the calling of the Gentiles, the future glory of the church near the end of the world, and Christ's coming to the final judgment. All these things, and many more, concerning Christ and his redemption, are abundantly spoken of in the book of Psalms.

This was also a glorious advancement of the affair of redemption, as God hereby gave his church a book of divine songs for their use in that part of their public worship, namely singing his praises, throughout all ages to the end of the world. It is manifest the book of Psalms was given of God for this end. It was used in the church of Israel by God's appointment: this is manifest by the title of many of the psalms, in which they are inscribed to the chief musician, that is to the man that was appointed to be the leader of divine songs in the temple, in the public worship of Israel. So David is called, the sweet psalmist of Israel, because he penned psalms for the use of the church of Israel; and accordingly we have an account that they were actually made use of in the church of Israel for that end, even ages after David was dead; as 2 Chronicles 29:30. "Moreover, Hezekiah the king, and the princes, commanded the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord, with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer." And we find that the same are appointed in the New Testament to be made use of in the Christian church, in their worship: Ephesians 5:19. "Speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." Colossians 3:16. "Admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." And so they have been, and will to the end of the world be made use of in the church to celebrate the praises of God. The people of God were wont sometimes to worship God by singing songs to his praise before; as they did at the Red sea; and they had Moses's prophetical song, in the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy, committed to them; Deborah, and Barak, and Hannah, sung praises to God: but now first did God commit to his church a book of divine songs for their constant use.

5. The next thing I would take notice of, is God's actually exalting David to the throne of Israel, notwithstanding all the opposition made to it. God was determined to do it, and he made every thing give place that stood in the way of it. He removed Saul and his sons out of the way; and first set David over the tribe of Judah; and then, having removed Ishbosheth, set him over all Israel. Thus did God fulfill his word to David. He took him from the sheepcote, and made him king over his people Israel, Psalm 78:70-71. And now the throne of Israel was established in that family in which it was to continue for ever, even for ever and ever.

6. Now first it was that God proceeded to choose a particular city out of all the tribes of Israel to place his name there. There is several times mention made in the law of Moses, of the children of Israel's bringing their oblations to the place which God should choose; as Deuteronomy 12:5-7 and so in many other places; but God had never proceeded to do it till now. The tabernacle and ark were never fixed, but sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another; but now God proceeded to choose Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was never thoroughly conquered, or taken out of the hands of the Jebusites, till David's time. It is said in Joshua 15:63. "As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day." But now David wholly subdued it, as we have an account in 2 Samuel 5. And now God proceeded to choose that city to place his name there, as appears by David's bringing up the ark thither soon after; and therefore this is mentioned afterwards as the first time God proceeded to choose a city to place his name there, 2 Chronicles 6:5-6 and chapter 12:13. Afterwards God proceeded to show David the place he would have his temple built, namely the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

This city of Jerusalem is therefore called the holy city; and it was the greatest type of the church of Christ in all the Old Testament. It was redeemed by David, the captain of the hosts of Israel, out of the hands of the Jebusites, to be God's city, the holy place of his rest forever, where he would dwell; as Christ, the captain of his people's salvation, redeems his church out of the hands of devils, to be his holy and beloved city. Therefore how often does the scripture, when speaking of Christ's redemption of his church, call it by the names of Zion and Jerusalem? This was the city that God had appointed to be the place of the first gathering and erecting of the Christian church after Christ's resurrection, of that remarkable pouring out of the Spirit of God on the apostles and primitive Christians, and the place whence the gospel was to sound forth into all the world; the place of the first Christian church, that was to be, as it were, the mother of all other churches through the world; agreeable to that prophecy, Isaiah 2:3-4. "Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem: and he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people," etc.

Thus God chose Mount Zion when the gospel was to be sounded forth, as the law had been from Mount Sinai.

7. The next thing to be observed here, is God's solemnly renewing the covenant of grace with David, and promising that the Messiah should be of his seed. We have an account of it in the seventh chapter of the second book of Samuel. It was done on occasion of the thoughts David entertained of building God an house. On this occasion God sends Nathan the prophet to him, with the glorious promises of the covenant of grace. It is especially contained in these words in the sixteenth verse: "And thy house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee; thy throne shall be established forever." Which promise has respect to Christ, the seed of David, and is fulfilled in him only: for the kingdom of David has long since ceased, any otherwise than as it is upheld in Christ. The temporal kingdom of the house of David has now ceased for a great many ages; much longer than ever it stood.

That this covenant that God now established with David by Nathan the prophet, was the covenant of grace, is evident by the plain testimony of scripture, in Isaiah 55:1-3. There we have Christ inviting sinners to come to the waters, etc. And in the third verse, he says, "Incline your ear, come unto me; hear, and your souls shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David." Here Christ offers to poor sinners, if they will come to him, to give them an interest in the same everlasting covenant that he had made with David, conveying to them the same sure mercies. But what is that covenant that sinners obtain an interest in, when they come to Christ, but the covenant of grace?

This was the fifth solemn establishment of the covenant of grace with the church after the fall. The covenant of grace was revealed and established all along. But there had been particular seasons, wherein God had in a very solemn manner renewed this covenant with his church, giving forth a new edition and establishment of it, revealing it in a new manner. This was now the fifth solemn establishment of that covenant. The first was with Adam, the second was with Noah, the third was with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fourth was in the wilderness by Moses, and now the fifth is this made to David.

This establishment of the covenant of grace with David, David always esteemed the greatest smile of God upon him, the greatest honor of all that God had put upon him; he prized it, and rejoiced in it above all the other blessings of his reign. You may see how joyfully and thankfully he received it, when Nathan came to him with the glorious message, in 1 Samuel 7:18, etc. And so David, in his last words, declares this to be all his salvation, and all his desire; as you may see, 2 Samuel 23:5. "He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: For this is all my salvation, and all my desire."

8. It was by David that God first gave his people Israel the possession of the whole promised land. I have before shown, how God's giving the possession of the promised land belonged to the covenant of grace. This was done in a great measure by Joshua, but not fully. Joshua did not wholly subdue that part of the promised land that was strictly called the land of Canaan, and that was divided by lot to the several tribes; but there were great numbers of the old inhabitants left unsubdued, as we read in the books of Joshua and Judges; and there were many left to prove Israel, and to be thorns in their sides, and pricks in their eyes. There were the Jebusites in Jerusalem, and many of the Canaanites, and the whole nation of the Philistines, who all dwelt in that part of the land that was divided by lot, and chiefly in that part of the land that belonged to the tribes of Judah and Ephraim.

Thus these remains of the old inhabitants of Canaan continued unsubdued till David's time; but he wholly subdued them all. Which is agreeable to what Saint Stephen observes, Acts 7:45. "Which also our fathers brought in with Jesus (that is Joshua) into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David." They were till the days of David in driving them out, before they had wholly subdued them. But David entirely brought them under. He subdued the Jebusites, and he subdued the whole nation of the Philistines, and all the rest of the remains of the seven nations of Canaan: 1 Chronicles 18:1. "Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towers out of the hands of the Philistines."

After this, all the remains of the former inhabitants of Canaan were made bond-servants to the Israelites. The posterity of the Gibeonites became servants before, hewers of wood, and drawers of water, for the house of God. But Solomon, David's son and successor, put all the other remains of the seven nations of Canaan to bond-service; at least made them pay a tribute of bond-service, as you may see, 1 Kings 9:20, 21, 22. And hence we read of the children of Solomon's servants, after the return from the Babylonish captivity, Ezra 2:55 and Nehemiah 11:3. They were the children or posterity of the seven nations of Canaan, that Solomon had subjected to bond-service.

Thus David subdued the whole land of Canaan, strictly so called. But then that was not one half, nor quarter, of the land God had promised to their fathers. The land that God had often promised to their fathers, included all the countries from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. These were the bounds of the land promised to Abraham, Genesis 15:18. "In that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates." So again God promised at Mount Sinai, Exodus 23:31. "And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee." So again, Deuteronomy 11:24. "Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread, shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea, shall your coast be." Again, the same promise is made to Joshua: Joshua 1:3, 4. "Every place that the soul of your feet shall tread upon, have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses; from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea, towards the going down of the sun, shall be your coast." But the land that Joshua gave the people the possession of, was but a little part of this land. And the people never had had the possession of it, till now when God gave it them by David.

This large country did not only include that Canaan that was divided by lot to those who came in with Joshua, but the land of the Moabites and Ammonites, the land of the Amalekites, and the rest of the Edomites, and the country of Zobah. All these nations were subdued and brought under the children of Israel by David. And he put garrisons in the several countries, and they became David's servants, as we have a particular account in the 8th chapter of 2 Samuel: and David extended their border to the river Euphrates, as was promised; see the third verse: "And David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates." Accordingly we read, that Solomon his son reigned over all the region on this side the river, 1 Kings 4:24. "For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even unto Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river." This Artaxerxes king of Persia takes notice of long after: Ezra 4:20. "There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom was paid unto them."

So that Joshua, that type of Christ, did but begin the work of giving Israel the possession of the promised land; but left it to be finished by that much greater type and ancestor of Christ, even David, who subdued far more of that land than ever Joshua had done. In this extent of his and Solomon's dominion was some resemblance of the great extent of Christ's kingdom; and therefore the extent of Christ's kingdom is set forth by this very thing, of its being over all lands from the Red Sea, to the sea of the Philistines, and over all lands from thence to the river Euphrates; as Psalm 72:8. "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." See also 1 Kings 8:56.

9. God by David perfected the Jewish worship, and added to it several new institutions. The law was given by Moses, but yet all the institutions of the Jewish worship were not given by Moses; some were added by divine direction. So this greatest of all personal types of Christ did not only perfect Joshua's work, in giving Israel the possession of the promised land, but he also finished Moses's work, in perfecting the instituted worship of Israel. Thus there must be a number of typical prophets, priests, and princes, to complete one figure or shadow of Christ the antitype, he being the substance of all the types and shadows. Of so much more glory was Christ accounted worthy, than Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon, and all the great prophets, priests, and princes, judges, and saviors of the Old Testament put together.

The ordinances of David are mentioned as of parallel validity with those of Moses, 2 Chronicles 23:18. "Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt-offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David." The worship of Israel was perfected by David, by the addition that he made to the ceremonial law, which we have an account of in the 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 26th chapters of the first book of Chronicles, consisting in the several orders and courses into which David divided the Levites, and the work and business to which he appointed them, different from what Moses had appointed them to; and also in the divisions of the priests the sons of Aaron into four and twenty courses, assigning to every course their business in the house of the Lord, and their particular times of attendance there; and appointing some of the Levites to a new office, that had not been appointed before; and that was the office of singers, and particularly ordering and regulating of them in that office, as you may see in the 25th chapter of 1 Chronicles; and appointing others of the Levites by law to the several services of porters, treasurers, officers, and judges: and these ordinances of David were kept up henceforth in the church of Israel as long as the Jewish church lasted. Thus we find the several orders of priests and the Levites, the porters, and singers, after the captivity. So we find the courses of the priests appointed by David still continuing in the New Testament; so Zacharias the father of John the Baptist was a priest of the course of Abia; which agrees with the course of Abijah appointed by David, that we read in 1 Chronicles 24:10.

Thus David as well as Moses was made like to Christ the Son of David, in this respect, that by him God gave a new ecclesiastical establishment, and new institutions of worship. David did not only add to the institutions of Moses, but by those additions he abolished some of the old constitutions of Moses that had been in force till that time; particularly those laws of Moses that appointed the business of the Levites, which we have in the 3rd and 4th chapters of Numbers, which very much consisted in their charge of the several parts and utensils of the tabernacle, there assigned them, and in carrying those several parts of the tabernacle. But those laws were now abolished by David; and they were no more to carry those things, as they had been used to do till David's time. But David appointed them to other work instead of it; see 1 Chronicles 23:26. "And also unto the Levites, they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof:" A sure evidence that the ceremonial law given by Moses is not perpetual, as the Jews supposed: but might be wholly abolished by Christ: for if David, a type of the Messiah, might abolish the law of Moses in part, much more might the Messiah himself abolish the whole.

David, by God's appointment, abolished all use of the tabernacle, that was built by Moses, and of which he had the pattern from God: for God now revealed it to David to be his will, that a temple should be built that should be instead of the tabernacle: A great presage of what Christ, the son of David, should do, when he should come, namely abolish the whole Jewish ecclesiastical constitution, which was but as a movable tabernacle, to set up the spiritual gospel-temple, which was to be far more glorious, and of greater extent, and was to last forever. David had the pattern of all things pertaining to the temple showed him, even in like manner as Moses had the pattern of the tabernacle: and Solomon built the temple according to that pattern which he had from his father David, which he received from God. 1 Chronicles 28:11, 12. "Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things." And, verse 19. "All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern."

10. The canon of scripture seems at or after the close of David's reign to be added to by the prophets Nathan and Gad. It appears probable by the scriptures, that they carried on the history of the two books of Samuel from the place where Samuel left it, and finished it. These two books of Samuel seem to be the book that in scripture is called the book of Samuel the seer, and Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer, as in 1 Chronicles 29:29, "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer."

11. The next thing I would take notice of, is God's wonderfully continuing the kingdom of his visible people in the line of Christ's legal ancestors, as long as they remained an independent kingdom. Thus it was without any interruption worth taking notice. Indeed the kingdom of all the tribes of Israel was not kept in that line; but the dominion of that part of Israel in which the true worship of God was upheld, and so of that part that were God's visible people, was always kept in the family of David, as long as there was any such thing as an independent king of Israel; according to his promise to David: And not only in the family of David but always in that part of David's posterity that was the line whence Christ was legally descended; so that the very person that was Christ's legal ancestor was always in the throne, excepting Jehoahaz who reigned three months, and Zedekiah; as you may see in Matthew's genealogy of Christ.

Christ was legally descended from the kings of Judah, though he was not naturally descended from them. He was both legally and naturally descended from David. He was naturally descended from Nathan the son of David; for Mary his mother was one of the posterity of David by Nathan, as you may see in Luke's genealogy; but Joseph, the reputed and legal father of Christ, was naturally descended of Solomon and his successors, as we have an account in Matthew's genealogy. Jesus Christ, though he was not the natural son of Joseph, yet, by the law and constitution of the Jews, he was Joseph's heir; because he was the lawful son of Joseph's lawful wife, conceived while she was his legally espoused wife. The Holy Ghost raised up seed to him. A person, by the law of Moses, might be the legal son and heir of another, whose natural son he was not; as sometimes a man raised up seed to his brother: A brother, in some cases, was to build up a brother's house; so the Holy Ghost built up Joseph's house.

Joseph being in the direct line of the kings of Judah, of the house of David, he was the legal heir of the crown of David; and Christ being legally his first-born son, he was his heir; and so Christ, by the law, was the proper heir of the crown of David, and is therefore said to sit upon the throne of his father David.

The crown of God's people was wonderfully kept in the line of Christ's legal ancestors. When David was old, and not able any longer to manage the affairs of the kingdom, Adonijah, one of his sons, set up to be king, and seemed to have obtained his purpose; all things for a while seemed fair on his side, and he thought himself strong; the thing he aimed at seemed to be accomplished. But so it was, Adonijah was not the son of David that was the ancestor of Joseph, the legal father of Christ; and therefore how wonderfully did Providence work here! What a strange and sudden revolution! All Adonijah's kingdom and glory vanished away as soon as it was begun; and Solomon, the legal ancestor of Christ, was established in the throne.

After Solomon's death, when Jeroboam had conspired against the family, and Rehoboam carried himself so that it was a wonder all Israel was not provoked to forsake him, and ten tribes did actually forsake him, and set up Jeroboam in opposition to him; and though he was a wicked man, who deserved to have been rejected altogether from being king; yet he being the legal ancestor of Christ, God kept the kingdom of the two tribes, in which the true religion was upheld, in his possession. And though he had been wicked, and his son Abijam was another; yet they being legal ancestors of Christ, God still kept the crown in the family, and gave it to Abijam's son Asa. And though many of the kings of Judah were very wicked men, and horridly provoked God, as particularly Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon; yet God did not take away the crown from their family, but gave it to their sons, because they were the ancestors of Christ. God's remembering his covenant that he had established with David, is given as the reason why God did thus, notwithstanding their wicked lives; as 1 Kings 15:4 speaking there of Abijam's wickedness, it is said, "Nevertheless, for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:" So, 2 Chronicles 21:7 speaking there of Jehoram's great wickedness, it is said, "Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light unto him, and to his sons forever."

The crown of the ten tribes was changed from one family to another continually. First, Jeroboam took it; but the crown remained in his family but for one generation after his death; it only descended to his son Nadab: and then Baasha, that was of another family, took it; and it remained in his posterity but one generation after his death: and then Zimri, that was his servant, and not of his posterity, took it; and then, without descending at all to his posterity, Omri, that was of another family, took it; and the crown continued in his family for three successions: and then Jehu, that was of another family, took it; and the crown continued in his family for three or four successions: and then Shallum, that was of another family, took it: and the crown did not descend at all to his posterity; but Menahem, that was of another family, took it; and it remained in his family but one generation after him: and then Pekah, that was of another family, took it; and after him Hoshea, that was still of another family, took it: so great a difference was there between the crown of Israel, and the crown of Judah; the one was continued evermore in the same family, and with very little interruption, in one right line; the other was continually tossed about from one family to another, as if it were the sport of fortune. The reason was not, because the kings of Judah, many of them, were better than the kings of Israel; but the one had the blessing in them; they were the ancestors of Christ, whose right it was to sit on the throne of Israel. But with the kings of Israel it was not so; and therefore divine Providence exercised a continual care, through all the changes that happened through so many generations, and such a long space of time, to keep the crown of Judah in one direct line, in fulfilment of the everlasting covenant he had made with David, the mercies of which covenant were sure mercies; but in the other case there was no such covenant, and so no such care of Providence.

Here it must not be omitted, that there was once a very strong conspiracy of the kings of Syria and Israel, in the time of that wicked king of Judah, Ahaz, to dispossess Ahaz and his family of the throne of Judah, and to set one of another family, even the son of Tabeal, on it; as you may see in Isaiah 7:6, "Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal." And they seemed very likely to accomplish their purpose. There seemed to be so great a likelihood of it, that the hearts of the people sunk within them; they gave up the cause. It is said, "The heart of Ahaz and his people was moved as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind." On this occasion God sent the prophet Isaiah to encourage the people, and tell them that it should not come to pass. And because it looked so much like a gone cause, that Ahaz and the people would with difficulty believe that it would not be, therefore God directs the prophet to give them, this sign of it, namely, that Christ should be born of the legal seed of Ahaz; as Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." This was a good sign, and a great confirmation of the truth of what God promised by Isaiah, namely, that the kings of Syria and Israel should never accomplish their purpose of dispossessing the family of Ahaz of the crown of Judah, and setting up the son of Tabeal; for Christ the Immanuel was to be of them.

I have mentioned this dispensation of Providence in this place, because though it was continued for so long a time, yet it began in Solomon's succession to the throne of his father David.

12. The next thing I would take notice of is, the building of the temple: a great type of three things, namely, of Christ, especially the human nature of Christ; of the church of Christ; and of heaven. The tabernacle seemed rather to represent the church in its moveable, changeable state, here in this world. But that beautiful, glorious, costly structure of the temple, that succeeded the tabernacle, and was a fixed, and not a moveable thing, seems especially to represent the church in its glorified state in heaven. This temple was built according to the pattern shown by the Holy Ghost to David, and by divine direction given to David, in the place where was the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, in Mount Moriah, 2 Chronicles 3:1 in the same mountain, and doubtless in the very same place, where Abraham offered up his son Isaac; for that is said to be a mountain in the land of Moriah, Genesis 22:2 which mountain was called the mountain of the Lord, as this mountain of the temple was, Genesis 22:14. "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen."

This was the house where Christ dwelt, till he came to dwell in the temple of his body, or human nature, which was the antitype of this temple; as appears, because Christ, on occasion of showing him the temple of Jerusalem, says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days will I raise it up," speaking of the temple of his body, John 2:19-20. This house, or an house built in this place, continued to be the house of God, the place of the worship of his church, till Christ came. Here was the place that God chose, where all their sacrifices were offered up, till the great sacrifice came, and made the sacrifice and oblation to cease. Into his temple in this place the Lord came, even the messenger of the covenant. Here he often delivered his heavenly doctrine, and wrought miracles; here his church was gathered by the pouring out of the Spirit, after his ascension. Luke 24:53 speaking of the disciples, after Christ's ascension, it is said, "And they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God." And, Acts 2:46 speaking of the multitudes that were converted by that great outpouring of the Spirit that was on the day of Pentecost, it is said, "And they continued daily with one accord in the temple." And, Acts 5:42 speaking of the apostles, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Hence the sound of the gospel went forth, and the church spread into all the world.

13. It is here worthy to be observed, that at this time, in Solomon's reign, after the temple was finished, the Jewish church was risen to its highest external glory. The Jewish church, or the ordinances and constitution of it, is compared to the moon, in Revelation 12:1. "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." As this church was like the moon in many other respects, so it was in this, that it waxed and waned like the moon. From the first foundation of it, that was laid in the covenant made with Abraham, when this moon was now beginning to appear, it had to this time been gradually increasing in its glory. This time, wherein the temple was finished and dedicated, was about the middle between the calling of Abraham and the coming of Christ, and now it was full moon. After this the glory of the Jewish church gradually decreased, till Christ came; as I shall have occasion more particularly to observe afterwards.

Now the church of Israel was in its highest external glory. Now Israel was multiplied exceedingly, so that they seemed to have become like the sand on the sea shore, 1 Kings 4:20. Now the kingdom of Israel was firmly established in the right family, the family of which Christ was to come. Now God had chosen the city where he would place his name. Now God had fully given his people the possession of the promised land; and they now possessed the dominion of it all in quietness and peace, even from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates; all those nations that had formerly been their enemies, quietly submitted to them; none pretended to rebel against them. Now the Jewish worship in all its ordinances was fully settled. Now, instead of a movable tent and tabernacle, they had a glorious temple; the most magnificent, beautiful, and costly structure, that there was then, ever had been, or ever has been since. Now, the people enjoyed peace and plenty, and every man sat under his vine and fig tree, eating and drinking, and making merry as 1 Kings 4:20. Now they were in the highest pitch of earthly prosperity, silver being as plenty as stones, and the land full of gold and precious stones, and other precious foreign commodities, which were brought by Solomon's ships from Ophir, and which came from other parts of the world. Now they had a king reigning over them that was the wisest of men, and probably the greatest earthly prince that ever was. Now their fame went abroad into all the earth, so that they came from the utmost parts of the earth to see their glory and their happiness.

Thus God was pleased, in one of the ancestors of Christ, remarkably to shadow forth the kingdom of Christ reigning in his glory. David, that was a man of war, a man who had shed much blood, and whose life was full of troubles and conflicts, was more of a representation of Christ in his state of humiliation, his militant state, wherein he was conflicting with his enemies. But Solomon, that was a man of peace, was a representation more especially of Christ exalted, triumphing, and reigning in his kingdom of peace. And the happy glorious state of the Jewish church at that time, did remarkably represent two things: 1. That glorious state of the church on earth, which shall be in the latter ages of the world; those days of peace, when nation shall not lift sword against nation, nor learn war any more. 2. The future glorified state of the church in heaven. The earthly Canaan never was so lively a type of the heavenly Canaan, as it was then, when the happy people of Israel did indeed enjoy it as a land flowing with milk and honey.

14. After this the glory of the Jewish church gradually declined more and more till Christ came; yet not so but that the work of redemption still went on. Whatever failed or declined, God still carried on this work from age to age; this building was still advancing higher and higher. Things still went on, during the decline of the Jewish church, towards a further preparation of things for the coming of Christ, as well as during its increase; for so wonderfully were things ordered by the infinitely wise governor of the world, that whatever happened was ordered for good to this general design, and made a means of promoting it. When the people of the Jews flourished, and were in prosperity, he made that to contribute to the promoting this design; and when they were in adversity, God made that also to contribute to the carrying on of the same design. While the Jewish church was in its increasing state, the work of redemption was carried on by their increase; and when they came to their declining state, which they were in from Solomon's time till Christ, God carried on the work of redemption by that. That decline itself was one thing that God made use of as a further preparation for Christ's coming.

As the moon, from the time of its full, is approaching nearer and nearer to her conjunction with the sun; so her light is still more and more decreasing, till at length, when the conjunction comes, it is wholly swallowed up in the light of the sun. So it was with the Jewish church from the time of its highest glory in Solomon's time. In the latter end of Solomon's reign, the state of things began to darken, by Solomon's corrupting himself with idolatry, which much obscured the glory of this mighty and wise prince; and withal troubles began to arise in his kingdom; and after his death the kingdom was divided, and ten tribes revolted, and withdrew their subjection from the house of David, withal falling away from the true worship of God in the temple at Jerusalem, and setting up the golden calves of Bethel and Dan. Presently after this the number of the ten tribes was greatly diminished in the battle of Jeroboam with Abijah, wherein there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men; which loss the kingdom of Israel probably never in any measure recovered.

The ten tribes finally apostatized from the true God under Jeroboam, and the kingdom of Judah was greatly corrupted, and from that time forward were more generally in a corrupt state than otherwise. In Ahab's time the kingdom of Israel did not only worship the calves of Bethel and Dan, but the worship of Baal was introduced. Before they pretended to worship the true God by these images, the calves of Jeroboam; but now Ahab introduced gross idolatry, and the direct worship of false gods in the room of the true God; and soon after the worship of Baal was introduced into the kingdom of Judah, namely in Jehoram's reign, by his marrying Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. After this God began to cut Israel short, by finally destroying and sending into captivity that part of the land that was beyond Jordan, as you may see in 2 Kings 10:32 et cetera. And then after this Tiglath-Pileser subdued and captivated all the northern parts of the land; 2 Kings 15:29. And then at last all the land of the ten tribes was subdued by Shalmaneser, and they were finally carried captive out of their own land. After this also the kingdom of Judah was carried captive into Babylon, and a great part of the nation never returned. Those that returned were but a small number, compared with what had been carried captive: and for the most part after this they were dependent on the power of other states, being subject one while to the kings of Persia, then to the monarchy of the Grecians, and then to the Romans. And before Christ's time, the church of the Jews was become exceedingly corrupt, overrun with superstition and self-righteousness. How small a flock was the church of Christ in the days of his incarnation!

God, by this gradual decline of the Jewish state and church from Solomon's time, prepared the way for the coming of Christ several ways.

1. The decline of the glory of this legal dispensation, made way for the introduction of the more glorious dispensation of the gospel. The decline of the glory of the legal dispensation, was to make way for the introduction of the evangelical dispensation, that was so much more glorious, that the legal dispensation had no glory in comparison with it. The glory of the ancient dispensation, such as it was in Solomon's time, consisting so much in external glory, was but a childish glory, compared with the spiritual glory of the dispensation introduced by Christ. The church, under the Old Testament, was a child under tutors and governors, and God dealt with it as a child. Those pompous externals are called by the apostle, weak and beggarly elements. It was fit that those things should be diminished as Christ approached; as John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, speaking of Christ, says, "He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30. It is fit that the twinkling stars should gradually withdraw their glory, when the sun is approaching towards his rising. The glory of the Jewish dispensation must be gradually diminished, to prepare the way for the more joyful reception of the spiritual glory of the gospel. If the Jewish church, when Christ came, had been in the same external glory that it was in, in the reign of Solomon, men would have had their eyes so dazzled with it, that they would not have been likely joyfully to exchange such great external glory, for only the spiritual glory of the poor despised Jesus. Again.

2. This gradual decline of the glory of the Jewish state, tended to prepare the way for Christ's coming another way, namely as it tended to make the glory of God's power, in the great effects of Christ's redemption, the more conspicuous. God's people's being so diminished and weakened by one step after another, till Christ came, was very much like the diminishing Gideon's army. God told Gideon, that the people that was with him, was too many for him to deliver the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel should vaunt themselves against him, saying, "My own hand hath saved me." Therefore all that were fearful were commanded to return; and there returned twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. But still they were too many; and then, by trying the people at the water, they were reduced to three hundred men. So the people in Solomon's time were too many, and mighty and glorious for Christ; therefore he diminished them; first, by sending off the ten tribes; and then he diminished them again by the captivity into Babylon; and then they were further diminished by the great and general corruption that there was when Christ came; so that Christ found very few godly persons among them: and with a small handful of disciples, Christ conquered the world. Thus high things were brought down, that Christ might be exalted.

3. This prepared the way for Christ's coming, as it made the salvation of those Jews that were saved by Christ, to be more sensible and visible. Though the greater part of the nation of the Jews was rejected, and the Gentiles called in their room; yet there were a great many thousand of the Jews that were saved by Christ after his resurrection, Acts 21:20. They being taken from so low a state under temporal calamity in their bondage to the Romans, and from a state of great superstition and wickedness, that the Jewish nation was then fallen into; it made their redemption the more sensibly and visibly glorious.

I have taken notice of this dispensation of providence in the gradual decline of the Jewish church in this place, because it began in the reign of Solomon.

15. I would here take notice of the additions that were made to the canon of scripture in or soon after the reign of Solomon. There were considerable additions made by Solomon himself, who wrote the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, probably near the close of his reign. His writing the Song of Songs, as it is called, is what is especially here to be taken notice of, which is wholly on the subject that we are upon, namely Christ and his redemption, representing the high and glorious relation, and union, and love, that is between Christ and his redeemed church. And the history of the scripture seems, in Solomon's reign, and some of the next succeeding reigns, to have been added to by the prophets Nathan and Ahijah, and Shemaiah and Iddo. It is probable that part of the history which we have in the first of Kings, was written by them, by what is said 2 Chronicles 9:29, and in chapter 12:15, and in chapter 13:22.

16. God's wonderfully upholding his church and the true religion through this period. It was very wonderful, considering the many and great apostasies that there were of that people to idolatry. When the ten tribes had generally and finally forsaken the true worship of God, God kept up the true religion in the kingdom of Judah; and when they corrupted themselves, as they very often did exceedingly, and idolatry was ready totally to swallow all up, yet God kept the lamp alive, and was often pleased when things seemed to be come to an extremity, and religion at its last gasp, to grant blessed revivals by remarkable outpourings of his Spirit, particularly in Hezekiah's and Josiah's time.

17. God remarkably kept the book of the law from being lost in times of general and long continued neglect of and enmity against it. The most remarkable instance of this kind that we have, was the preservation of the book of the law in the time of the great apostasy during the greatest part of the long reign of Manasseh, which lasted fifty-five years, and then after that the reign of Amon his son. This while the book of the law was so much neglected, and such a careless and profane management of the affairs of the temple prevailed, that the book of the law, that used to be laid up by the side of the ark in the Holy of Holies, was lost for a long time; nobody knew where it was. But yet God preserved it from being finally lost. In Josiah's time, when they came to repair the temple, it was found buried in rubbish, after it had been lost so long that Josiah himself seems to have been much a stranger to it till now. See 2 Kings 22:8, etc.

18. God's remarkably preserving the tribe of which Christ was to proceed, from being ruined through the many and great dangers of this period. The visible church of Christ from Solomon's reign, was mainly in the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Benjamin, that was annexed to them, was but a very small tribe, and the tribe of Judah exceedingly large; and as Judah took Benjamin under his covert when he went into Egypt to bring corn, so the tribe of Benjamin seemed to be under the covert of Judah ever after: and though on occasion of Jeroboam's setting up the calves at Bethel and Dan, the Levites resorted to Judah out of all the tribes of Israel, (2 Chronicles 11:13); yet they were also small, and not reckoned among the tribes: and though many of the ten tribes did also on that occasion, for the sake of the worship of God in the temple, leave their inheritances in their several tribes, and removed and settled in Judah, and so were incorporated with them, as we have account in the chapter just quoted, and sixteenth verse; yet the tribe of Judah was so much the prevailing part, that they were called by one name, they were called Judah; therefore God said to Solomon, 1 Kings 11:13. "I will not rend away all the kingdom: but will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, which I have chosen," and so verses 32, 36. So when the ten tribes were carried captive, it is said, there was none left but the tribe of Judah only: 2 Kings 17:18. "Therefore the Lord was very wroth with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only." Whence they were all called Jews, which is a word that comes from Judah.

This was the tribe of which Christ was to come; and in this chiefly did God's visible church consist, from Solomon's time: and this was the people over whom the kings that were legal ancestors of Christ, and were of the house of David, reigned. This people was wonderfully preserved from destruction during this period, when they often seemed to be upon the brink of ruin, and just ready to be swallowed up. So it was in Rehoboam's time, when Shishak king of Egypt came against Judah with such a vast force; yet then God manifestly preserved them from being destroyed. Of this we read in the beginning of the twelfth chapter of 2 Chronicles. So it was again in Abijah's time, when Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men; a mighty army indeed. We read of it, 2 Chronicles 13:3. Then God wrought deliverance to Judah, out of regard to the covenant of grace established with David, as is evident by verses 4 and 5; and the victory they obtained was because the Lord was on their side, as you may see, verse 12. So it was again in Asa's time, when Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with a yet larger army of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots, 2 Chronicles 14:9. On this occasion Asa cried to the Lord, and trusted in him, being sensible that it was nothing with him to help those that had no power; verse 11. "And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with those that have no power." Accordingly God gave them a glorious victory over this mighty host.

So again it was in Jehoshaphat's time, when the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, combined together against Judah with a mighty army, a force vastly superior to any that Jehoshaphat could raise; and Jehoshaphat and his people were greatly afraid: yet they set themselves to seek God on this occasion, and trusted in him; and God told them by one of his prophets, that they need not fear them, nor should they have any occasion to fight this battle, they should only stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. According to his direction, they only stood still, and sang praises to God, and God made their enemies do the work themselves, and set them to killing one another; and the children of Judah had nothing to do, but to gather the spoil, which was more than they could carry away. We have the story in 2 Chronicles 20.

So it was again in Ahaz's time, when Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, conspired against Judah, and seemed to be sure of their purpose; of which we have spoken already. So it was again in Hezekiah's time, when Sennacherib, that great king of Assyria, and head of the greatest monarchy that was then in the world, came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, after he had conquered most of the neighbouring countries, and sent Rabshakeh, the captain of his host, against Jerusalem, who came, and in a very proud and scornful manner insulted Hezekiah and his people, as being sure of victory; and the people were trembling for fear, like lambs before a lion. Then God sent Isaiah the prophet to comfort them, and assure them that they should not prevail; as a token of which he gave them this sign, namely that the earth, for two years successively, should bring forth food of itself, from the roots of the old stalks, without their plowing or sowing; and then the third year they should sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them, and live on the fruits of their labour, as they were wont to do before. See 2 Kings 19:29. This is mentioned as a type of what is promised in verses 30, 31. "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah, shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward." "For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape, out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this." The corn's springing again after it had been cut off with the sickle, and bringing forth another crop from the roots, that seemed to be dead, and so once and again, represents the church's reviving again, as it were out of its own ashes, and flourishing like a plant after it had seemingly been cut down past recovery. When the enemies of the church have done their utmost, and seem to have gained their point, and to have overthrown the church, so that the being of it is scarcely visible, but like a living root hid under ground; yet there is a secret life in it that will cause it to flourish again, and to take root downward, and bear fruit upward. This was fulfilled now at this time: For the king of Assyria had already taken and carried captive the ten tribes; and Sennacherib had also taken all the fenced cities of Judah, and ranged the country round about, and Jerusalem only remained; and Rabshakeh had in his own imagination already swallowed that up as he had also in the fearful apprehensions of themselves. But yet God wrought a wonderful deliverance. An Angel, that in one night smote an hundred fourscore and five thousand in the enemy's camp.

19. In the reign of Uzziah, and the following reigns, God was pleased to raise up a set of eminent prophets, who should commit their prophecies to writing, and leave them for the use of his church in all ages. We before observed, how that God began a constant succession of prophets in Israel in Samuel's time, and many of these prophets wrote by divine inspiration, and so added to the canon of scripture before Uzziah's time. But none of them are supposed to have written books of prophecies till now. Several of them wrote histories of the wonderful dispensations of God towards his church. This we have observed already of Samuel, who is supposed to have written Judges and Ruth, and part of the first of Samuel. If not the book of Joshua. And Nathan and Gad seem to have written the rest of the two books of Samuel: and Nathan, with Ahijah and Iddo, wrote the history of Solomon, which is probably that which we have in the first book of Kings. The history of Israel seems to have been further carried on by Iddo and Shemaiah: 2 Chronicles 12:15. "Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and Iddo the seer, concerning genealogies?" And after that the history seems to have been further carried on by the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani: 2 Chronicles 20:34. "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel," as we find him to be 1 Kings 16:1, 7. And then it was further continued by the prophet Isaiah: 2 Chronicles 26:22. "Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz write." He probably did it as well in the second book of Kings, as in the book of his prophecy. And the history was carried on and finished by other prophets after him.

Thus the prophets, even from Samuel's time, had from time to time been adding to the canon of scripture by their historical writings. But now, in the days of Uzziah, did God first raise up a set of great prophets, not only to write histories, but to write books of their prophecies. The first of these is thought to be Hosea the son of Beeri, and therefore his prophecy, or the word of the Lord by him, is called the beginning of the word of the Lord; as Hosea 1:2. "The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea;" that is, the beginning, or the first part, of the written word of that kind, namely, that which is written in books of prophecy. He prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. There were many other witnesses for God raised up about the same time to commit their prophecies to writing, Isaiah, and Amos, and Jonah, and Micah, and Nahum, and probably some others; and so from that time forward God seemed to continue a succession of writing prophets.

This was a great dispensation of Providence, and a great advance made in the affair of redemption, which appears, if we consider what was said before, that the main business of the prophets was to foreshow Christ and his redemption. They were all forerunners of the great prophet. The main end why the spirit of prophecy was given them was, that they might give testimony to Jesus Christ, the great Redeemer, that was to come; and therefore the testimony of Jesus, and the spirit of prophecy, are spoken of as the same thing: Revelation 19:10. "And I fell at his feet to worship him: and he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Therefore we find, that the great and main thing that the most of the prophets in their written prophecies insisted upon, is Christ and his redemption, and the glorious times of the gospel, which should be in the latter days, according to their manner of expression. Though many other things were spoken of in their prophecies, yet it seems to be only as introductory to their prophecy of these great things. Whatever they prophesy of, here their prophecies commonly terminate, as you may see by a careful perusal of their writings.

These prophets were set to writing their prophecies by the Spirit of Christ that was in them, chiefly for that end, to foreshow and prepare the way for the coming of Christ, and the glory that should follow. In what an exalted strain do they all speak of those things! Many other things they speak of in men's usual language. But when they come upon this subject, what a joyful heaven sublimity is there in the language they use about it! Some of them are very particular and full in their predictions of these things, and above all the Prophet Isaiah, who is therefore deservedly called the evangelical prophet. He seems to teach the glorious doctrines of the gospel almost as plainly as the Apostles did, who preached after Christ was actually come. The Apostle Paul therefore takes notice, that the Prophet Esaias is very bold, Romans 10:20. That is, as the meaning of the word, as used in the New Testament, is very plain, he speaks out very plainly and fully; so being "very bold" is used 2 Corinthians 3:12. We use "great plainness of speech," or "boldness," as it is in the margin.

How plainly and fully does the Prophet Isaiah describe the manner and circumstances, the nature and end, of the sufferings and sacrifice of Christ, in the fifty-third chapter of his prophecy. There is scarcely a chapter in the New Testament itself which is more full on it! And how much, and in what a glorious strain, does the same prophet speak from time to time of the glorious benefits of Christ, the unspeakable blessings which shall redound to his church through his redemption! Jesus Christ, the person that this prophet spoke so much of, once appeared to Isaiah in the form of the human nature, the nature that he should afterwards take upon him. We have an account of it in the sixth chapter of his prophecy at the beginning: "I saw also the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple," et cetera. This was Christ that Isaiah now saw, as we are expressly told in the New Testament. See John 12:39-41.

If we consider the abundant prophecies of this and the other prophets, what a great increase is there of the light of the gospel, which had been growing from the fall of man to this day? How plentiful are the revelations and prophecies of Christ now, to what they were in the first period of the Old Testament, from Adam to Noah? Or to what they were in the second, from Noah to Abraham? Or to what they were before Moses, or in the time of Moses, Joshua, and the Judges? This dispensation that we are now speaking of, was also a glorious advance of the work of redemption by the great additions that were made to the canon of scripture. Great part of the Old Testament was written now from the days of Uzziah to the captivity into Babylon. And how excellent are those portions of it? What a precious treasure have those prophets committed to the church of God, tending greatly to confirm the gospel of Christ, and which has been of great comfort and benefit to God's church in all ages since, and doubtless will be to the end of the world.

I now come to the fifth period of Old Testament history, beginning with David and extending to the Babylonian captivity. I will show how the work of redemption was carried on through this period as well. Here,

I. The first thing to note is God's anointing the person who was to be the ancestor of Christ to be king over His people. The acts of providence noted through the previous period — from Moses to this point — concerned the people from whom Christ would come. But now the biblical narrative leads us to consider God's providence toward the particular individual from whom Christ was to come, namely David. At this time God was pleased to single out that person from whom Christ would come, choosing him from among all the thousands of Israel and placing a most honorable mark of distinction on him by anointing him to be king over His people. Only God could have found him. His father's household was considered insignificant in Israel, he was the youngest of all his father's sons, and he was the last person Samuel expected God to have chosen. God had previously, in earlier ages, remarkably distinguished the specific persons from whom Christ would come — as He did with Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the last time God had clearly singled out the individual from whom Christ was to come was in Jacob's blessing of his son Judah — unless we count Nahshon's elevation in the wilderness as the leader of the tribe of Judah. But this honoring of the person from whom Christ would come — in David's case — was particularly honorable, for it was God's anointing him to be king over His people. There was something more signified in David's anointing than in Saul's. God anointed Saul personally to be king. But in sending Samuel to anoint David, God intended something further — to establish the crown of Israel in David and in his family for as long as Israel remained a kingdom. And infinitely more than that: to establish the crown over His universal church, His spiritual Israel, in David's seed, to the end of the world and throughout all eternity.

This was a major act of God — a great step taken toward further advancing the work of redemption, as the time of Christ's coming drew nearer. David, as the ancestor of Christ, was also the greatest personal type of Christ in all of the Old Testament. The types of Christ were of three kinds: instituted types, providential types, and personal types. The ordinance of sacrifice was the greatest of the instituted types; the redemption out of Egypt was the greatest of the providential types; and David was the greatest of the personal types. This is why Christ is frequently called David in the biblical prophecies, as in Ezekiel 34:23-24: "Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them... My servant David will be prince among them." And so in many other places. And He is very often called the seed of David and the Son of David.

Since David was the ancestor and great type of Christ, his being solemnly anointed by God to be king over His people — so that the kingdom of His church might continue in his family forever — can in some respects be seen as an anointing of Christ Himself. Christ was, as it were, anointed in him. Therefore, Christ's anointing and David's are spoken of together in Scripture, as in Psalm 89:20: "I have found David My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him." And David's throne and Christ's are spoken of as one. Luke 1:32 says, "and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David." Acts 2:30 says that David, "knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne," was speaking prophetically of Christ. So God's establishing the kingdom of His church in the house of David was, as it were, a new founding of the kingdom of Christ — the beginning of it in the visible and enduring form it would take from then on. It was as if God was planting the root from which that branch of righteousness would later grow — the everlasting King of His church. That is why this everlasting King is called the branch from the stem of Jesse. Isaiah 11:1 says, "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit." Jeremiah 23:5 says, "Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely.'" Jeremiah 33:15 says, "In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth." And in the New Testament Christ is called "the root and the descendant of David" in Revelation 22:16.

It is notable that God anointed David to reign in Saul's place. He took the crown from Saul and his family — who was taller than any of his people and seemed in their eyes best suited to rule — and gave it to David, who was shorter and by comparison seemed an unlikely choice. In this God showed how Christ — who appeared without impressive form or beauty, and who was despised and rejected by men — would take the kingdom from the great ones of the earth. It is also notable that David was the youngest of Jesse's sons — just as Jacob the younger brother supplanted Esau and obtained the birthright and blessing from him; as Perez, another of Christ's ancestors, pushed past his brother Zerah at birth; and as Isaac, another of Christ's ancestors, displaced his older brother Ishmael. In all of this was fulfilled that frequent saying of Christ, "The last shall be first, and the first last."

II. The next thing to observe is how God preserved David's life through a series of remarkable providences until Saul's death. I have previously noted the wonderful preservation of other individual ancestors of Christ — Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob — and observed how, since Christ the great Redeemer was to come from them, the work of redemption itself, and with it the entire church redeemed through Him, can be seen as preserved from being destroyed in their preservation. But the preservation of David was no less remarkable than any of those already discussed. How often was it the case that only a step separated him from death. The first instance came when he encountered a lion and a bear that had seized a lamb from his flock. Without miraculous help, either animal could have torn this young shepherd to pieces just as they could have torn the lamb. In this way, the future root and offspring of David was preserved from that roaring lion who goes about seeking whom he may devour — and in time would conquer him and rescue the poor souls of men who were like lambs in his jaws. Another remarkable instance was his preservation from the giant Goliath, who was strong enough to have seized him and torn him apart with his hands, and given his flesh to the birds and wild animals, as he threatened. But God preserved David and gave him victory, so that he cut off Goliath's head with his own sword and became the deliverer of his people — just as Christ slew the spiritual Goliath with his own weapon, the cross, and so delivered His people. And how remarkably did God preserve David from being killed by Saul — when Saul first sought his life by giving him his daughter as a trap, requiring David to pay for her with one hundred Philistine foreskins in hope that the Philistines would kill him; and preserving him again when Saul told Jonathan and all his servants to kill David; and moving Jonathan, instead of killing him as his father commanded, to love him as his own soul and to be a key instrument of his preservation, even risking his own life to protect David — though one might have expected Jonathan, of all people, to want David dead since David was his competitor for the throne. God preserved David again when Saul hurled a spear at him to pin him to the wall; and again when Saul sent messengers to his house to watch him, when Michal, Saul's daughter, let him down through a window; and when Saul sent messengers to Naioth in Ramah again and again to capture him, and they were repeatedly stopped by sudden miraculous outpourings of the Spirit of God; and then when Saul, determined in the matter, went himself — he too was overcome among the prophets. And after all this, how wonderfully was David's life preserved at Gath among the Philistines, when he went to Achish king of Gath and was in Philistine hands — people who, one would have thought, would have killed him immediately, since he had provoked them so greatly through his exploits against them. He was again wonderfully preserved at Keilah, after entering a town where Saul thought he had him trapped. How wonderfully was he preserved from Saul who hunted him in the mountains. How remarkably did God deliver him in the wilderness of Maon, when Saul and his army were closing in around David. And how he was delivered in the cave of En-gedi — when, instead of Saul killing David, God delivered Saul into his hands in the cave, and David cut off his garment and could as easily have cut off his head. And afterward delivering him similarly in the wilderness of Ziph. And preserving him again in the land of the Philistines — though David had fought and defeated the Philistines at Keilah since he was last among them, which one would have thought warning enough never to trust him or let him escape again if they ever had him in their hands. Yet when a second opportunity came, God remarkably turned their hearts to be his friends and protectors rather than his destroyers.

So the precious seed that contained, as it were, the Redeemer and all the blessings of His redemption was wonderfully preserved while both hell and earth were conspiring to destroy it. How often does David himself note this with praise and wonder in the book of Psalms!

III. Around this time the written word of God — the canon of Scripture — was added to by Samuel. I noted earlier how the canon of Scripture was begun and the first written word of God, the first written standard of faith and conduct ever given, was given to the church around the time of Moses. Many scholars — perhaps most — believe it was added to by Joshua, who wrote the last chapter of Deuteronomy and most of the book of Joshua. Others think that Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and part of the first book of Samuel were written by Samuel. Whatever the case, we have good evidence that Samuel added to the canon of Scripture. Samuel is clearly mentioned in the New Testament as one of the prophets whose writings we have in Scripture, in the previously cited Acts 3:24: "And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days." The phrase "as many as have spoken" cannot mean those who spoke by word of mouth, since every prophet did that. The meaning must be those who have spoken in writing — those whose words have been preserved so that we can see what they said.

The way Samuel spoke of the times of Christ and the Gospel was by recording the history of the things that pointed to and pictured them — particularly the things concerning David that he wrote. The Spirit of God moved him to commit those things to writing chiefly because they pointed to Christ and the times of the Gospel. As stated before, this was the main purpose of the entire succession of prophets that began with Samuel — to foretell those times.

That Samuel added to the canon of Scripture also appears to be supported by 1 Chronicles 29:29: "Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer."

Whether or not the book of Joshua was written by Samuel, it is the general view of scholars that the books of Judges, Ruth, and part of the first book of Samuel were composed by him. The book of Ruth was written for this reason: though it appears to deal with private family matters, the people chiefly described in it were from the family that produced both David and Christ, and it therefore pointed to what the apostle Peter said about Samuel and the other prophets in Acts 3. This addition to the canon of Scripture — the great and chief instrument for applying redemption — is to be understood as a further carrying on of that work, and as a new addition to the great building.

4. Another thing God did toward this work at that time was His inspiring David to portray Christ and His redemption in sacred songs — songs that were to serve the church in public worship throughout all ages. David himself was endowed with the spirit of prophecy. He is called a prophet in Acts 2:29-30: "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath..." etc. In this David was a type of Christ — being both a prophet and a king. We do not know the exact time when David first received the spirit of prophecy, but it is clear that it was either at the time Samuel anointed him or very shortly afterward — for he appears to have been moved by this spirit soon after, in the encounter with Goliath. And a large part of the Psalms was written during his years of trouble before he came to the throne, as can be shown from a careful examination of the individual psalms.

The oil used in anointing David was a picture of the Spirit of God, and the picture and the reality were given together, as 1 Samuel 16:13 records: "Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward." It is probable that the Spirit came upon him at that time in His prophetic influences.

The way this Spirit influenced him was by inspiring him to portray Christ and the glorious things of His redemption in sacred songs — songs that beautifully expressed the longings of a godly soul, filled with wonder at the glorious things of the Redeemer, inflamed with divine love, and overflowing with praise. This is why David is called "the sweet psalmist of Israel" in 2 Samuel 23:1: "Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, the man who was raised on high declares, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel." The main subjects of these sacred songs were the glorious things of the Gospel — as is evident from the way they are quoted and applied throughout the New Testament. No other book of the Old Testament is cited more frequently in the New Testament than the Psalms. This holy man joyfully sang of those great things of Christ's redemption that had been the hope and expectation of God's church since the beginning of the church on earth. Others joined him in this with equal joy — Asaph, Heman, Ethan, and others — for the book of Psalms was not all written by David, though the greater part of it was. Through this the canon of Scripture was further enlarged, and an excellent portion of divine Scripture it was that was added.

This was a great advance that God made in this building. The light of the Gospel, which had been gradually growing since the fall, was enormously increased by it. Before this, there had been only scattered prophecies of Christ given across long stretches of time. Now Christ was spoken of by His ancestor David abundantly, in multitudes of songs covering His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven; His atonement and intercession; His prophetic, kingly, and priestly offices; His glorious benefits in this life and the next; His union with the church and the blessedness of the church in Him; the calling of the Gentiles; the future glory of the church near the end of the world; and Christ's coming to final judgment. All these things and many more concerning Christ and His redemption are abundantly covered in the book of Psalms.

This was also a glorious advance in the work of redemption because God here gave His church a book of sacred songs for use in the part of their public worship that involves singing His praises — and this for all ages to the end of the world. It is clear that the book of Psalms was given by God for this purpose. It was used in the church of Israel by God's appointment, as the titles of many psalms show — inscribed to the chief musician, meaning the person appointed to lead the singing in the temple during Israel's public worship. So David is called "the sweet psalmist of Israel" because he composed psalms for the use of the church of Israel. And we have evidence they were actually used in the church of Israel for that purpose long after David was dead, as 2 Chronicles 29:30 shows: "Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer." And we find the same psalms appointed in the New Testament for use in the Christian church in worship. Ephesians 5:19 says, "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." Colossians 3:16 says, "teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." And so they have been used, and will to the end of the world be used, in the church to celebrate the praises of God. God's people had sometimes worshiped God in song before this — as they did at the Red Sea. They had Moses's prophetical song in Deuteronomy 32 given to them. Deborah and Barak and Hannah sang praises to God. But now for the first time God gave His church a book of sacred songs for their regular use.

5. The next thing to note is God's actually placing David on the throne of Israel, despite all the opposition that stood in the way. God was determined to accomplish it, and He made every obstacle give way. He removed Saul and his sons; first established David over the tribe of Judah; and then, after removing Ishbosheth, established him over all Israel. So God fulfilled His word to David. He took him from the sheepfold and made him king over His people Israel, as Psalm 78:70-71 records. And now the throne of Israel was established in that family in which it was to remain forever — forever and ever.

6. This was also the first time God proceeded to choose a particular city from all the tribes of Israel to place His name there. The law of Moses refers several times to the children of Israel bringing their offerings to the place that God would choose — as in Deuteronomy 12:5-7 and many other places — but God had not yet done so until now. The tabernacle and ark had never been permanently fixed but moved from place to place. Now God proceeded to choose Jerusalem. Jerusalem had never been fully conquered or taken from the Jebusites before David's time. Joshua 15:63 says, "Now as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the sons of Judah could not drive them out; so the Jebusites live with the sons of Judah at Jerusalem until this day." But now David fully conquered it, as 2 Samuel 5 records. God then proceeded to choose that city to place His name there, as is clear from David's bringing the ark there shortly afterward. This is later referred to as the first time God chose a city to place His name there, as 2 Chronicles 6:5-6 and 12:13 show. Afterward God showed David the specific site where the temple was to be built — the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

This city of Jerusalem is therefore called the holy city, and it was the greatest type of the church of Christ in all the Old Testament. It was redeemed by David, the commander of Israel's armies, from the hands of the Jebusites to be God's city — the holy place of His rest forever, where He would dwell. So Christ, the captain of His people's salvation, redeems His church from the hands of the devil, to be His holy and beloved city. This is why Scripture so often calls the church of Christ's redemption by the names Zion and Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the city God appointed as the location of the first gathering and forming of the Christian church after Christ's resurrection — the site of that remarkable outpouring of the Spirit on the apostles and early Christians, and the place from which the Gospel was to sound forth to all the world. It was the site of the first Christian church, which was to be, as it were, the mother of all churches throughout the world, in keeping with Isaiah 2:3-4: "For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples."

So God chose Mount Zion to be the source from which the Gospel would sound forth, just as the law had gone forth from Mount Sinai.

7. The next thing to observe is God's solemnly renewing the covenant of grace with David and promising that the Messiah would be of his seed. This is recorded in 2 Samuel 7. It happened because of the thoughts David had about building a house for God. On this occasion God sent the prophet Nathan to David with the glorious promises of the covenant of grace. The heart of the message is in verse 16: "Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever." This promise refers to Christ, the seed of David, and is fulfilled in Him alone — for the kingdom of David has long since ceased to exist except as it is sustained in Christ. The earthly kingdom of the house of David has now been gone for many ages — far longer than it ever stood.

That this covenant God established with David through the prophet Nathan was the covenant of grace is clearly shown by Scripture itself in Isaiah 55:1-3. There Christ invites sinners to come to the waters, etc. In verse 3 He says, "Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David." Here Christ offers poor sinners, if they will come to Him, a share in the same everlasting covenant He made with David, conveying to them the same faithful mercies. But what is the covenant that sinners obtain a share in when they come to Christ, if not the covenant of grace?

This was the fifth solemn confirmation of the covenant of grace with the church since the fall. The covenant of grace had been present and confirmed all along. But there had been particular occasions when God had solemnly renewed this covenant with His church — giving a new presentation and confirmation of it, revealing it in a new way. This was now the fifth such solemn confirmation. The first was with Adam, the second with Noah, the third with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fourth through Moses in the wilderness, and now the fifth was this covenant made with David.

David always regarded this establishment of the covenant of grace with him as the greatest expression of God's favor — the highest honor God had ever shown him. He prized and rejoiced in it above all the other blessings of his reign. His joyful and thankful reception of it, when Nathan came to him with this glorious message, is evident in 2 Samuel 7:18 and following. And in his final words, David declares this to be all his salvation and all his desire, as 2 Samuel 23:5 shows: "Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things, and secured; for all my salvation and all my desire, will He not indeed make it grow?"

8. It was through David that God first gave His people Israel full possession of the entire promised land. I showed earlier how God's giving Israel the promised land belonged to the covenant of grace. Joshua had accomplished this in large measure, but not fully. Joshua did not completely subdue the part of the promised land strictly called Canaan — the area divided by lot among the tribes. Many of the original inhabitants remained unconquered, as the books of Joshua and Judges record. Many were left to test Israel and to be thorns in their sides and splinters in their eyes. The Jebusites remained in Jerusalem. Many Canaanites remained throughout the land. The entire nation of the Philistines remained — all dwelling within the land that had been assigned by lot, chiefly in the portions belonging to the tribes of Judah and Ephraim.

These remnants of the original inhabitants of Canaan remained unconquered until David's time — but David subdued them all. This is consistent with what Stephen observes in Acts 7:45: "which our fathers received in their turn and brought in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David." The process of driving them out continued until the days of David, before they were completely subdued. But David brought them fully under control. He subdued the Jebusites and the entire nation of the Philistines and all the remaining members of the seven nations of Canaan. 1 Chronicles 18:1 says, "Now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines."

After this, all the remaining original inhabitants of Canaan were made servants to the Israelites. The Gibeonites had already become servants earlier — gatherers of wood and carriers of water for the house of God. But Solomon, David's son and successor, subjected all the other remaining members of the seven nations of Canaan to forced labor — or at least to a tribute of labor service, as 1 Kings 9:20-22 shows. This is why we read of "Solomon's servants" and their descendants after the return from the Babylonian captivity in Ezra 2:55 and Nehemiah 11:3 — they were the descendants of the seven nations of Canaan whom Solomon had subjected to service.

So David subdued the whole of Canaan, strictly speaking. But that was not even half, nor a quarter, of the land God had promised to their ancestors. The land God had repeatedly promised their fathers extended from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. These were the boundaries of the land promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18: "On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.'" God promised the same boundaries at Mount Sinai in Exodus 23:31: "I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you." Deuteronomy 11:24 repeats the promise: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea." The same promise was made to Joshua in Joshua 1:3-4: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory." But the land Joshua gave the people possession of was only a small part of this entire land. The people had never actually possessed the full extent of it until God gave it to them through David.

This larger territory included not only the Canaan divided by lot to those who came in with Joshua, but also the land of the Moabites and Ammonites, the land of the Amalekites, the rest of Edom, and the country of Zobah. David subdued all these nations and brought them under the rule of the children of Israel. He stationed garrisons in the various territories and they became David's servants, as 2 Samuel 8 describes in detail. David extended their territory to the Euphrates, as had been promised. See 2 Samuel 8:3: "David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as he went to restore his rule at the Euphrates River." Accordingly, Solomon his son is said to have ruled over all the region west of the Euphrates, as 1 Kings 4:24 says: "For he had dominion over everything west of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River." The Persian king Artaxerxes later acknowledged this, as Ezra 4:20 records: "There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the provinces beyond the River, and toll, tribute and custom were paid to them."

So Joshua — that type of Christ — only began the work of giving Israel possession of the promised land, leaving it to be completed by that much greater type and ancestor of Christ, David, who conquered far more of the land than Joshua had. The vast extent of David's and Solomon's dominion was a picture of the great extent of Christ's kingdom. This is why the extent of Christ's kingdom is described in terms of that very dominion — stretching from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and from there to the Euphrates. Psalm 72:8 says, "May he also rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth." See also 1 Kings 8:56.

9. Through David, God perfected Israel's worship and added several new ordinances to it. The law was given by Moses, but not all the institutions of Jewish worship came through him — some were added later by divine direction. So David, the greatest of all personal types of Christ, not only completed Joshua's work by giving Israel full possession of the promised land, but also completed Moses's work by perfecting Israel's ordained worship. This shows why it took a series of typical prophets, priests, and rulers to together form one complete picture of Christ — He is the substance and fulfillment of all those types and shadows. Christ was worthy of far greater glory than Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, and all the great prophets, priests, rulers, judges, and deliverers of the Old Testament combined.

David's ordinances are mentioned as having authority equal to those of Moses in 2 Chronicles 23:18: "Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David." David perfected Israel's worship through the additions he made to the ceremonial law — described in chapters 23, 24, 25, and 26 of 1 Chronicles. These additions included dividing the Levites into several orders and assigning them different duties from those Moses had appointed. David also divided the priests, the sons of Aaron, into twenty-four courses and assigned each course its specific duties in the house of the Lord and its scheduled times of service. He also appointed certain Levites to a new office — the office of singers — organizing and regulating their duties as described in 1 Chronicles 25. He further assigned other Levites to the roles of gatekeepers, treasurers, officers, and judges. These ordinances of David were observed in the church of Israel for as long as the Jewish system continued. We find the various orders of priests, Levites, gatekeepers, and singers still functioning after the Babylonian captivity. These courses of priests appointed by David were still in place in New Testament times — Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest of the division of Abijah, which corresponds to the course of Abijah that David established in 1 Chronicles 24:10.

So David, like Moses, resembled Christ the Son of David in this respect: through him God established a new structure for the church and new forms of worship. David not only added to Moses's institutions but, through those additions, abolished some of Moses's older regulations that had been in force until that time. In particular, the Mosaic laws in Numbers 3 and 4 that assigned the Levites responsibility for carrying the various parts and furnishings of the tabernacle were now abolished by David. The Levites were no longer required to carry those things as they had done up to that point. David instead assigned them new duties, as 1 Chronicles 23:26 records: "Also to the Levites, they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof." This is clear evidence that the ceremonial law given by Moses was not permanent, as the Jewish people assumed. If David — a type of the Messiah — could abolish part of Moses's law, then the Messiah Himself could certainly abolish the whole of it.

By God's appointment, David abolished all use of the tabernacle that Moses had built according to the pattern God had given him. God now revealed to David that it was His will for a temple to be built in place of the tabernacle. This was a powerful foreshadowing of what Christ, the Son of David, would do when He came: abolish the entire Jewish religious structure — which was like a portable tabernacle — and establish the spiritual gospel-temple in its place, which would be far more glorious, far more extensive, and would last forever. David was shown the pattern of everything pertaining to the temple, just as Moses had been shown the pattern of the tabernacle. Solomon then built the temple according to the pattern he received from his father David, who had received it from God. 1 Chronicles 28:11-12 records: "Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things." And verse 19: "All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern."

10. The canon of Scripture appears to have been added to near or after the close of David's reign by the prophets Nathan and Gad. It is probable from Scripture that they continued the history of the two books of Samuel from where Samuel had left off and brought it to completion. These two books of Samuel appear to be what Scripture calls the book of Samuel the seer, the book of Nathan the prophet, and the book of Gad the seer — as 1 Chronicles 29:29 records: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer."

11. The next thing to note is how God wonderfully kept the kingdom of His visible people in the line of Christ's legal ancestors for as long as Israel remained an independent kingdom. This held without any significant interruption. The kingdom of all twelve tribes was not always kept in that line — but the part of Israel where true worship of God was maintained, and which therefore represented God's visible people, was always governed by the house of David for as long as an independent king of Israel existed. This fulfilled God's promise to David. Furthermore, the throne was not only kept in the house of David generally, but always in that specific branch of David's descendants from which Christ was legally descended — so that Christ's direct legal ancestor was always on the throne, with the exception of Jehoahaz, who reigned three months, and Zedekiah — as Matthew's genealogy of Christ shows.

Christ was legally descended from the kings of Judah, though not naturally descended from them. He was both legally and naturally descended from David. He was naturally descended from Nathan the son of David — for His mother Mary was a descendant of David through Nathan, as Luke's genealogy shows. Joseph, His reputed and legal father, was naturally descended from Solomon and Solomon's successors, as Matthew's genealogy records. Although Jesus Christ was not Joseph's biological son, He was Joseph's legal heir under Jewish law, because He was the lawful son of Joseph's lawful wife, conceived while she was his legally betrothed wife. The Holy Spirit raised up offspring for him. Under the law of Moses, a person could be another man's legal son and heir without being his biological son — just as a man was sometimes required to raise up children in his brother's name. A brother was in certain cases to build up his brother's household. In the same way, the Holy Spirit built up Joseph's household.

Since Joseph stood in the direct line of the kings of Judah — the house of David — he was the legal heir to David's crown. And since Christ was legally his firstborn son, Christ was Joseph's heir. Therefore, by law, Christ was the rightful heir to the throne of David, which is why Scripture says He would sit on the throne of His father David.

The crown of God's people was wonderfully preserved in the line of Christ's legal ancestors. When David was old and no longer able to manage the affairs of the kingdom, his son Adonijah sought to make himself king and seemed to have succeeded. For a time everything appeared to be going his way, and he thought his position was secure. But Adonijah was not the son of David who was the ancestor of Joseph, the legal father of Christ — and so Providence worked in a remarkable way. There was a sudden and dramatic reversal. All of Adonijah's power and glory collapsed almost as soon as it had begun, and Solomon — the legal ancestor of Christ — was established on the throne.

After Solomon's death, when Jeroboam conspired against the royal family and Rehoboam behaved so badly that it was remarkable any of Israel remained with him — ten tribes actually broke away and made Jeroboam their king instead — even though Rehoboam was a wicked man who deserved to be removed from power, God kept the kingdom of the two tribes, where true religion was preserved, in his possession, because he was the legal ancestor of Christ. Though Rehoboam had been wicked, and his son Abijam was likewise, God still kept the crown in that family and gave it to Abijam's son Asa, because they were legal ancestors of Christ. Many of the kings of Judah were deeply wicked and provoked God terribly — especially Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon — yet God did not take the crown from their family. He passed it to their sons, because they were the ancestors of Christ. God's remembrance of His covenant with David is given as the reason He acted this way despite their wicked lives. Speaking of Abijam's wickedness, 1 Kings 15:4 says, "Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem." And speaking of Jehoram's great wickedness, 2 Chronicles 21:7 says, "Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and as He promised to give a light unto him, and to his sons forever."

The crown of the ten northern tribes, by contrast, changed hands from one family to another constantly. Jeroboam was the first to take it, but the crown stayed in his family for only one generation after his death, passing to his son Nadab. Then Baasha, from a different family, seized it, and it lasted in his line for only one generation after his death. Then Zimri, his servant and not of his family, took it. Then Omri, from yet another family, took it without it ever descending to Zimri's descendants, and the crown continued in his family for three reigns. Then Jehu, from another family, took it, and it stayed in his line for three or four reigns. Then Shallum, from yet another family, took it, but the crown did not pass to his descendants at all. Menahem, from a different family, seized it next, and it lasted in his family for one generation. Then Pekah, from another family, took it, and after him Hoshea, from yet another family, took it. The contrast between the two kingdoms was stark — one crown remained continuously in the same family, essentially in an unbroken direct line, while the other was constantly tossed from one family to another, as if by chance. The reason was not that the kings of Judah were generally better men than the kings of Israel. The difference was that the kings of Judah had the covenant blessing in them — they were the ancestors of Christ, whose right it was to sit on the throne of Israel. The kings of Israel had no such status, and so divine Providence exercised constant care through all the changes that occurred over so many generations and such a long span of time to keep the crown of Judah in one direct line. This fulfilled the everlasting covenant God had made with David — a covenant of sure and faithful mercies. No such covenant existed for the northern kingdom, and therefore no such providential care was given.

One more remarkable episode must not be overlooked: a powerful alliance between the kings of Syria and Israel during the reign of the wicked king Ahaz of Judah, with the goal of removing Ahaz and his family from the throne and replacing them with a man from a different family — the son of Tabeal. Isaiah 7:6 records their plan: "Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal." Their plan seemed very likely to succeed. The people were so convinced it would happen that their courage completely failed them. Scripture says, "The heart of Ahaz and his people was moved as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind." On this occasion God sent the prophet Isaiah to encourage the people and tell them the plan would not succeed. Because the situation looked so hopeless that Ahaz and the people could hardly believe the promise, God directed Isaiah to give them a confirming sign: Christ would be born of the legal line of Ahaz. Isaiah 7:14 records: "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." This was a powerful sign and a strong confirmation that the kings of Syria and Israel would never accomplish their goal of overthrowing the house of Ahaz and setting up the son of Tabeal — because Christ the Immanuel was to come from that very line.

I have discussed this particular work of Providence here because, although it continued for such a long time, it began with Solomon's succession to the throne of his father David.

12. The next thing to note is the building of the temple — a great type of three things: of Christ (especially His human nature), of the church of Christ, and of heaven. The tabernacle seemed to represent the church in its changing, temporary state in this world. But the magnificent, glorious, costly structure of the temple — which replaced the tabernacle and was a permanent rather than a movable structure — appears especially to represent the church in its glorified state in heaven. This temple was built according to the pattern the Holy Spirit revealed to David, by divine direction, on the site of the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite on Mount Moriah, as 2 Chronicles 3:1 records. This is the same mountain — and almost certainly the very same spot — where Abraham offered up his son Isaac. That location is called a mountain in the land of Moriah in Genesis 22:2, and it was known as the mountain of the Lord, just as the temple mount was. Genesis 22:14 records: "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen."

This was the house where Christ dwelt until He came to dwell in the temple of His body — His human nature — which was the true reality that this temple foreshadowed. This is clear from John 2:19-20, where Christ, referring to the temple of Jerusalem, said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" — speaking of the temple of His body. This building, or a building on this same site, continued to be the house of God and the place of worship for His church until Christ came. Here every sacrifice was offered up until the great sacrifice came and brought sacrifice and offering to an end. The Lord Himself — the messenger of the covenant — came to this very temple. Here He often taught His heavenly doctrine and performed miracles. Here His church was gathered through the outpouring of the Spirit after His ascension. Luke 24:53, speaking of the disciples after Christ's ascension, says, "And they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God." Acts 2:46, speaking of the multitudes converted through the great outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, says, "And they continued daily with one accord in the temple." Acts 5:42, speaking of the apostles, says, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." From this place the sound of the Gospel went out and the church spread into all the world.

13. It is worth noting that at this time — during Solomon's reign, after the temple was completed — the Jewish church reached its highest point of outward glory. The Jewish church, or its ordinances and institutions, is compared to the moon in Revelation 12:1: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." In many ways the Jewish church resembled the moon, including in this: it waxed and waned like the moon. From the founding of the church in the covenant made with Abraham — when this moon was just beginning to appear — it had been gradually growing in glory up to this point. The time when the temple was completed and dedicated fell roughly midway between the calling of Abraham and the coming of Christ, and this was the full moon of the Jewish church. After this, the glory of the Jewish church gradually declined until Christ came — as I will have occasion to observe more specifically later.

At this time the church of Israel stood at its highest point of outward glory. Israel had multiplied so greatly that the people seemed to be like the sand on the seashore, as 1 Kings 4:20 describes. The kingdom of Israel was firmly established in the right family — the family from which Christ was to come. God had chosen the city where He would place His name. God had fully given His people possession of the promised land, and they now held dominion over all of it in peace and security, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. All the nations that had previously been their enemies quietly submitted to them, and none dared to rebel. The Jewish worship, with all its ordinances, was fully established. Instead of a movable tent and tabernacle, they now had a glorious temple — the most magnificent, beautiful, and costly structure that had ever existed. The people enjoyed peace and abundance; every man sat under his vine and fig tree, eating and drinking and rejoicing, as 1 Kings 4:20 records. They had reached the peak of earthly prosperity — silver was as plentiful as stones, and the land was full of gold, precious stones, and rich goods brought by Solomon's ships from Ophir and from other parts of the world. They had a king who was the wisest of men and probably the greatest earthly ruler who ever lived. Their fame spread throughout all the earth, and people came from the farthest parts of the world to witness their glory and happiness.

In this way God was pleased to give, through one of the ancestors of Christ, a remarkable picture of Christ's kingdom in its glory. David — a man of war who shed much blood and whose life was filled with trouble and conflict — more closely represented Christ in His state of humiliation, His militant state in which He struggled against His enemies. Solomon — a man of peace — represented more especially Christ exalted, triumphant, and reigning in His kingdom of peace. The glorious and happy state of the Jewish church at that time was a striking picture of two things: First, the glorious state of the church on earth that will come in the latter ages of the world — those days of peace when nation shall not lift sword against nation, nor learn war any more. Second, the future glorified state of the church in heaven. The earthly Canaan was never a more vivid picture of the heavenly Canaan than it was at that moment, when the happy people of Israel truly enjoyed it as a land flowing with milk and honey.

14. After this, the glory of the Jewish church gradually declined, more and more, until Christ came — yet without interrupting the ongoing work of redemption. Whatever failed or declined, God still advanced this work from age to age. This building kept rising higher. Things continued to move forward, even during the decline of the Jewish church, toward a further preparation for Christ's coming — just as they had during the period of growth. The infinitely wise Governor of the world ordered all things so that whatever happened served the overarching design and became a means of advancing it. When the Jewish people flourished and prospered, God used that to further His purpose. When they were in adversity, He used that as well. While the Jewish church was in its growing phase, the work of redemption advanced through its growth. When it entered its period of decline — from Solomon's time until Christ — God carried on the work of redemption through that decline. The decline itself was one of the means God used to further prepare the way for Christ's coming.

From the time of a full moon, the moon draws ever closer to its conjunction with the sun, its light steadily diminishing until at the moment of conjunction it is completely swallowed up in the sun's light. So it was with the Jewish church from the height of its glory in Solomon's time. Near the end of Solomon's reign, things began to darken as Solomon fell into idolatry, greatly obscuring the glory of this powerful and wise king. Troubles also began to arise in his kingdom, and after his death the kingdom divided. Ten tribes revolted, withdrawing their allegiance from the house of David and abandoning the true worship of God at the temple in Jerusalem, setting up the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. Shortly after this, the ten tribes suffered enormous losses in the war between Jeroboam and Abijah, in which five hundred thousand of Israel's best warriors were killed — a loss from which the northern kingdom probably never recovered.

The ten tribes finally turned away from the true God under Jeroboam. The kingdom of Judah also became deeply corrupted, and from that point forward the people were more often in a corrupt state than not. In Ahab's time, the kingdom of Israel went beyond worshiping the golden calves of Bethel and Dan and introduced the worship of Baal. The calves of Jeroboam had at least been presented as images of the true God. But Ahab introduced outright idolatry — the direct worship of false gods in place of the true God. The worship of Baal was soon introduced into the kingdom of Judah as well, during Jehoram's reign, through his marriage to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. After this God began to cut Israel back. He destroyed and sent into captivity the portion of the land east of the Jordan, as 2 Kings 10:32 and following records. Then Tiglath-Pileser conquered and deported the northern parts of the land, as 2 Kings 15:29 records. Then Shalmaneser finally subdued all the territory of the ten tribes, and they were carried into permanent captivity out of their own land. After this, the kingdom of Judah was also taken captive into Babylon, and a large portion of the nation never returned. Those who did return were a small number compared to those who had been taken captive. For the most part after this, the Jewish people lived under foreign rule — at times subject to the kings of Persia, then to the Greek empire, and then to Rome. By the time of Christ's coming, the Jewish church had become deeply corrupt, overrun with superstition and self-righteousness. How small a flock was the church of Christ in the days of His incarnation!

Through the gradual decline of the Jewish state and church from Solomon's time onward, God prepared the way for Christ's coming in several ways.

1. The fading glory of the old covenant's outward system made room for the far more glorious dispensation of the Gospel. The glory of the old dispensation had to fade in order to make way for the Gospel — a dispensation so much more glorious that the old one had no glory by comparison. The glory of the ancient dispensation as it existed in Solomon's time — consisting so largely of outward splendor — was like a child's glory compared to the spiritual glory of the dispensation Christ brought. Under the Old Testament, the church was like a child under guardians and overseers, and God dealt with it as a child. The apostle calls those outward forms and ceremonies weak and worthless principles. It was fitting that these things should diminish as Christ drew near — just as John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, said of Christ, "He must increase, but I must decrease," in John 3:30. It is fitting that faint stars should gradually fade as the sun rises. The glory of the Jewish dispensation had to be gradually reduced to prepare the way for a more joyful reception of the spiritual glory of the Gospel. If the Jewish church had still been in the same outward glory at the time of Christ's coming as it was in Solomon's reign, people would have been so dazzled by it that they would have been unlikely to gladly exchange such great external glory for only the spiritual glory of the poor, despised Jesus.

2. The gradual decline of the Jewish state prepared the way for Christ's coming in another way: it made the power of God more visible in the great effects of Christ's redemption. The way God's people were progressively weakened and diminished step by step until Christ came was much like the reduction of Gideon's army. God told Gideon that the men with him were too many for God to deliver the Midianites into their hands, for fear that Israel would boast and say, "My own hand has saved me." So all who were afraid were told to go home, and twenty-two thousand left, leaving ten thousand. But even ten thousand were too many, so God tested them at the water and reduced the army to three hundred men. In the same way, the people in Solomon's time were too many, too mighty, and too glorious for Christ to use as they were. So God reduced them — first by the departure of the ten tribes, then by the Babylonian captivity, and then further by the widespread corruption that had set in by the time Christ came, so that Christ found very few godly people among them. And with a small handful of disciples, Christ conquered the world. High things were brought low so that Christ might be exalted.

3. This decline also prepared the way for Christ's coming by making the salvation of Jewish believers more clearly visible. Although the greater part of the Jewish nation was rejected and the Gentiles were called in their place, a great many thousands of Jews were saved through Christ after His resurrection, as Acts 21:20 records. Being lifted from such a low condition — under the oppression of Roman rule and out of the deep superstition and wickedness into which the Jewish nation had sunk — made their redemption all the more visibly and powerfully glorious.

I have discussed this work of Providence — the gradual decline of the Jewish church — at this point in the narrative because it began during Solomon's reign.

15. The next thing to note is the additions made to the canon of Scripture during or shortly after Solomon's reign. Considerable additions were made by Solomon himself, who wrote the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, probably near the close of his reign. His writing of the Song of Songs is especially worth noting here, since it deals entirely with our subject — Christ and His redemption — representing the glorious relationship, union, and love between Christ and His redeemed church. The historical record of Scripture also appears to have been extended during Solomon's reign and some of the reigns that followed, by the prophets Nathan and Ahijah, Shemaiah and Iddo. Part of the history we have in 1 Kings was probably written by them, as suggested by 2 Chronicles 9:29, 12:15, and 13:22.

16. God wonderfully preserved His church and true religion throughout this entire period. This was truly remarkable, given the many serious departures into idolatry that occurred. When the ten tribes had broadly and permanently abandoned the true worship of God, God preserved true religion in the kingdom of Judah. And when the people of Judah themselves fell deeply into corruption — as they frequently did — and idolatry seemed about to swallow everything up, God kept the lamp burning. He was often pleased, when things had reached the worst point and true religion seemed at its last breath, to bring blessed revivals through remarkable outpourings of His Spirit — particularly in the times of Hezekiah and Josiah.

17. God remarkably preserved the book of the law from being lost during long periods of general neglect and hostility toward it. The most striking example of this was the preservation of the book of the law during the great spiritual decline that characterized most of the long reign of Manasseh — which lasted fifty-five years — followed by the reign of his son Amon. During this time the book of the law was so neglected, and the temple was managed so carelessly and irreverently, that the book of the law — which had been kept beside the ark in the Most Holy Place — was lost for a long period, and no one knew where it was. Yet God preserved it from being permanently lost. In Josiah's time, when workers came to repair the temple, the book was found buried in rubble, after being missing so long that Josiah himself appears to have been largely unfamiliar with it. See 2 Kings 22:8 and following.

18. God remarkably preserved the tribe from which Christ was to come from being destroyed through the many great dangers of this period. From Solomon's reign onward, God's visible church existed mainly in the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Benjamin, which was attached to Judah, was very small, while the tribe of Judah was very large. Just as Judah took his brother Benjamin under his protection when going to Egypt to buy grain, the tribe of Benjamin seems to have remained under Judah's protection ever after. When Jeroboam set up the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, the Levites from all the tribes of Israel came to Judah, as 2 Chronicles 11:13 records. But the Levites were also a small group and not counted among the tribes. Many people from the ten northern tribes also left their inheritances at that time for the sake of worshiping God at the temple in Jerusalem, resettled in Judah, and became part of that community, as the same chapter records in verse 16. Yet the tribe of Judah was so dominant that the whole group was known simply as Judah. This is why God said to Solomon in 1 Kings 11:13, "I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen" — as verses 32 and 36 also confirm. So when the ten tribes were taken captive, Scripture says only the tribe of Judah was left, as 2 Kings 17:18 records: "Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah alone." This is why they all came to be called Jews — a word derived from Judah.

This was the tribe from which Christ was to come, and from Solomon's time onward God's visible church existed primarily within it. This was also the people over whom the kings of the house of David — the legal ancestors of Christ — ruled. This people was wonderfully preserved from destruction throughout this period, when they often appeared to be on the edge of ruin and about to be wiped out. This was the case in Rehoboam's time, when Shishak king of Egypt marched against Judah with a massive force — yet God visibly preserved them from destruction. We read of this at the beginning of 2 Chronicles 12. It happened again in Abijah's time, when Jeroboam drew up his forces against him with eight hundred thousand select warriors — a truly enormous army — as 2 Chronicles 13:3 records. God brought deliverance to Judah in that battle out of faithfulness to the covenant of grace He had made with David, as verses 4 and 5 make clear. The victory came because the Lord was on their side, as verse 12 shows. It happened again in Asa's time, when Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with an even larger force of one million men and three hundred chariots, as 2 Chronicles 14:9 records. On that occasion Asa cried out to the Lord and trusted in Him, recognizing that it was nothing difficult for God to help those who had no power of their own. Verse 11 records his prayer: "And Asa cried to the Lord his God and said, 'Lord, it is nothing with You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power.'" God gave them a glorious victory over that mighty host.

The same pattern appeared in Jehoshaphat's time, when the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the people of Mount Seir joined forces against Judah with an army far larger than anything Jehoshaphat could assemble. Jehoshaphat and his people were terrified, but they turned to seek God and trusted in Him. God told them through one of His prophets that they had nothing to fear and would not even need to fight. They only needed to stand still and watch the Lord's deliverance. Following that instruction, they simply stood and sang praises to God, and God turned the enemy armies against one another. The people of Judah had nothing to do but collect the plunder — which was more than they could carry away. We have the full account in 2 Chronicles 20.

The same pattern appeared again in Ahaz's time, when Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel conspired against Judah and appeared certain to succeed — which we have already discussed. It appeared again in Hezekiah's time, when Sennacherib, the great king of Assyria and ruler of the most powerful empire in the world at that time, marched against all the fortified cities of Judah after conquering most of the surrounding nations. He sent Rabshakeh, the commander of his army, against Jerusalem. Rabshakeh came and insulted Hezekiah and his people with great pride and contempt, treating his victory as certain. The people trembled with fear like lambs before a lion. God sent Isaiah the prophet to comfort them and assure them that the enemy would not succeed. As a confirming sign He told them that for two successive years the ground would produce food on its own from the roots of the old stalks, without plowing or sowing. In the third year they would sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruit of their labor as they had before. See 2 Kings 19:29. This was given as a picture of what is promised in verses 30-31: "And the remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion those who escape. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this." The grain springing up again after being cut down — producing a new crop from roots that seemed dead, not once but twice — pictures the church reviving as if from its own ashes and flourishing like a plant that had seemingly been cut down beyond recovery. When the enemies of the church have done their worst and appear to have prevailed — when the church's very existence is barely visible, like a living root hidden underground — there is still a secret life within it that will cause it to flourish again, take root downward, and bear fruit upward. This was fulfilled at that very time. The king of Assyria had already taken the ten tribes captive. Sennacherib had also captured all the fortified cities of Judah, overrun the countryside, and left only Jerusalem. Rabshakeh had already claimed it in his own imagination — and in the terrified imagination of the people themselves. Yet God worked a wonderful deliverance. An angel struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the enemy camp in a single night.

19. During the reign of Uzziah and the reigns that followed, God raised up a group of outstanding prophets who would write down their prophecies and leave them for the use of His church in all ages. We have already noted how God began a continuous succession of prophets in Israel at Samuel's time, and how many of these prophets wrote under divine inspiration and added to the canon of Scripture before Uzziah's reign. But none of them are thought to have written books of prophecy until this time. Several of them did write histories of God's remarkable works toward His church. We have already noted this regarding Samuel, who is believed to have written Judges and Ruth and part of 1 Samuel — and perhaps the book of Joshua as well. Nathan and Gad appear to have written the remainder of the two books of Samuel. Nathan, together with Ahijah and Iddo, wrote the history of Solomon, which is probably what we have in 1 Kings. The history of Israel seems to have been continued further by Iddo and Shemaiah, as 2 Chronicles 12:15 indicates: "Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer, concerning genealogies?" After that the history seems to have been continued by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani, as 2 Chronicles 20:34 records: "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel" — as we find in 1 Kings 16:1, 7. Then Isaiah continued it further: 2 Chronicles 26:22 says, "Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote." He probably contributed both to 2 Kings and to his own book of prophecy. Other prophets after him continued and completed the historical record.

So from Samuel's time onward, the prophets had been continuously adding to the canon of Scripture through their historical writings. But in the days of Uzziah, God first raised up a group of major prophets who wrote not only histories but books of their own prophecies. The first of these is thought to be Hosea son of Beeri — which is why his prophecy is called the beginning of the word of the Lord, as Hosea 1:2 records: "The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea." This refers to the beginning — the first installment — of the written word of that kind, namely the word committed to books of prophecy. Hosea prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel. God raised up many other witnesses at about the same time to commit their prophecies to writing: Isaiah, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, and probably others. From that point forward God maintained a continuing succession of writing prophets.

This was a major work of Providence and a great advance in the work of redemption — which becomes clear when we recall that the main purpose of the prophets was to foretell Christ and His redemption. They were all forerunners of the great Prophet. The spirit of prophecy was given to them chiefly so they could bear witness to Jesus Christ, the great Redeemer who was to come. This is why the testimony of Jesus and the spirit of prophecy are spoken of as the same thing in Revelation 19:10: "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, 'Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'" Accordingly, the great central theme in most of the written prophecies is Christ and His redemption, and the glorious era of the Gospel that would come in the latter days — as the prophets expressed it. Other subjects appear in their writings, but these seem to serve mainly as the lead-up to their prophecy of these great things. Whatever else they speak of, their prophecies consistently arrive at this destination, as a careful reading of their writings shows.

These prophets were moved by the Spirit of Christ within them to write their prophecies chiefly to foretell and prepare the way for the coming of Christ and the glory that would follow. With what an elevated tone they all speak of these things! They speak of many other matters in ordinary human language. But when they come to this subject, the language they use takes on a joyful, heavenly grandeur. Some of them are very detailed and full in their predictions of these things — above all the prophet Isaiah, who is rightly called the evangelical prophet. He seems to teach the glorious doctrines of the Gospel almost as plainly as the apostles who preached after Christ had actually come. The apostle Paul observes that Isaiah is very bold, as Romans 10:20 notes. In New Testament usage, this means he speaks very plainly and directly. The same word is used to mean plain, clear speech in 2 Corinthians 3:12, which some translations render as "great plainness of speech."

How plainly and fully Isaiah describes the manner, circumstances, nature, and purpose of Christ's sufferings and sacrifice in chapter 53 of his prophecy! There is scarcely a chapter in the New Testament itself that is more complete on the subject. And how much, and with what glory, the same prophet speaks again and again of the benefits Christ would bring — the unspeakable blessings that would come to His church through His redemption! Jesus Christ, the person Isaiah spoke of so extensively, once appeared to Isaiah in the form of human nature — the nature He would later take upon Himself. We have the account in Isaiah 6:1 at the beginning: "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple," and so forth. This was Christ that Isaiah saw, as the New Testament expressly tells us. See John 12:39-41.

When we consider the abundant prophecies of Isaiah and the other prophets, we see what a tremendous increase there has been in the light of the Gospel — light that had been growing since the fall of man. How much more plentiful are the revelations and prophecies of Christ now compared to what they were in the first period of the Old Testament, from Adam to Noah? Or compared to what they were in the second period, from Noah to Abraham? Or compared to what they were before Moses, or in the time of Moses, Joshua, and the judges? This period we are now discussing was a glorious advance in the work of redemption through the great additions made to the canon of Scripture. A large portion of the Old Testament was written during the time from Uzziah's reign to the Babylonian captivity. How excellent are those portions of Scripture! What a precious treasure those prophets left for the church of God — greatly confirming the Gospel of Christ, bringing comfort and blessing to God's people in every age since, and certain to continue doing so until the end of the world.