333 Words of Grace

Monday, July 8, 2024

“And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there” (1 Kings 11:36 KJV).

What is this “light” the LORD God has for David in Jerusalem?

Indeed, we know the LORD God is leaving a “lamp” or “light” to King David in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:36; 1 Kings 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19; 2 Chronicles 21:7). First Kings 15:4 defines this as “to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem.”

Seeking more cross-references, we encounter Psalm 132: “[10] For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed. [11] The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. [12] If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. [13] For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation…. [17] There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.” Notice the “lamp” or “light” of verse 17!

The “lamp” or “light” to David is God’s guarantee He will leave David an heir or successor, that David’s royal bloodline continue. This is the Davidic Covenant of 2 Samuel chapter 7: “[12] And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. [13] He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. [14] I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: [15] But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. [16] And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.”

Let us keep studying….

Sunday, July 7, 2024

“And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there” (1 Kings 11:36 KJV).

What is this “light” the LORD God has for David in Jerusalem?

As 2 Kings chapter 8, so 2 Chronicles chapter 21 relates the activities of sinful King Jehoram, son of Rehoboam (Solomon’s son), of the royal Davidic dynasty: “[5] Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. [6] And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD. [7] 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 to him and to his sons for ever.” Negative social influences—namely, his intermarriage with King Ahab’s idolatrous family—was the primary reason for his errors (see 1 Kings 16:29-34 about Ahab’s wickedness).

Moreover, there is another cross-reference to today’s Scripture—though it is difficult to find. It sits in the context of 1 Kings chapter 15: “[1] Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah. [2] Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. and his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. [3] And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. [4] 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: [5] Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”

The “lamp” of 1 Kings 15:4 is interchangeable with the “light” of today’s Scripture, the key to realizing its full effect….

Saturday, July 6, 2024

“And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there” (1 Kings 11:36 KJV).

What is this “light” the LORD God has for David in Jerusalem?

Jerusalem was the capital city of King David’s kingdom: “And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem” (1 Kings 2:11). The LORD had declared, “Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel” (2 Chronicles 6:5,6). This corresponds to today’s Scripture.

Going back to 2 Kings 8:19, we observe: “Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.” This context is how wicked Jehoram, a great-great-great-great grandson of David, was the new King of Judah (and Jerusalem) who perverted the nation with sin: “[16] And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. [17] Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. [18] And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab [a king of Israel in the north]: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. [19] Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.”

Though the nation or kingdom of Judah was evil under Jehoram, God would spare it so as to leave a “light” to David and his descendants….

Friday, July 5, 2024

“And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there” (1 Kings 11:36 KJV).

What is this “light” the LORD God has for David in Jerusalem?

Three times we read of how the God of Israel has given a light for King David in the city of Jerusalem. Its first occurrence is today’s Scripture: “And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there” (1 Kings 11:36). Next, there is 2 Kings 8:19: “Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.” Finally, 2 Chronicles 21:7: “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 to him and to his sons for ever.”

When analyzing a Bible verse, we should try to collect related passages. In this case of the “light” the LORD God has for David in Jerusalem, we have located three statements that will prove useful in defining the term. We know, for example, how Jerusalem is said to be the place where the LORD God (JEHOVAH God) has put His name (1 Kings 11:36). To wit, Jerusalem is God’s capital city for Earth, the city where He Himself will one day reign: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2,3).

This prophecy of Isaiah is also connected to David….