The throne of David: a brief exposition of Acts 2:30-36
Oct 16, 2016 9:04:27 GMT
Post by Colossians on Oct 16, 2016 9:04:27 GMT
This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.
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THE THRONE OF DAVID: A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF ACTS 2:30-36
[30] “Therefore being a prophet, and 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 sit on his throne;”
Indication that David knew in the Spirit that Christ would sit on his (David’s) throne. (Here the term “raise up” is not used to indicate a resurrection from the dead, but a (metaphorical) raising up/elevating to power.)
[31] “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.”
Here we are told that the resurrection of Christ from the dead would be equated on the pragmatic axis with the above-mentioned “rais[ing]” : the raising up of Christ to sit on his father David’s throne would be coextensive with His being raised from the dead.
And so whilst there was of necessity a looking ahead by David, there was no looking ahead by Peter: the resurrection of Christ is here tacitly declared by Peter to be the terminus: we are not being told about a resurrection to be followed-up at some later stage by a sitting of Christ upon an earthly throne, but a resurrection which was in and of itself that very sitting on a (necessarily-spiritual) ‘throne’.
[32] “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”
Here Peter fuses together the metaphorical “rais[ing]” of v30 with the subsequently-mentioned raising that was the resurrection, in so doing essentially employing a play on words.
But yet again we see that the resurrection of Christ and God’s sitting of Him on the throne of David are (tacitly) declared to be one and the same thing: there is no suggestion of any event yet to be fulfilled: the resurrection of Christ is in no uncertain terms implied to be the fulfilment of all.
[33] “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”
Here we are (additionally) told that the resurrection of Christ in fact constitutes the (very) exulting of Him by God.
And so given that to be exulted by God can consist of nothing less than a sharing with Him in His reign1, we necessarily understand the resurrection of Christ to consist of His being made to sit on the throne of God.
1 See Rom 8:17, 1 Cor 4:5, Eph 2:6, 2 Ti 2:12, Rev 20:6.
And so given that we have been told that the resurrection of Christ was (also) the sitting of Him on the throne of David, we understand the throne of David and the throne of God to be one and the same thing – that the throne of David is in fact a figure for the throne of God.
[34] “For David is not ascended 2 into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,”
Here is emphasised the transcendence of the (eternal) nature of the reign of Christ over the domain in which David reigned. This (philosophical) point alone tells us that the Lord will never take His seat on an earthly throne.
And so again it goes no further - there is no looking beyond the now, no looking toward a future event, no telling the listening Jewish ears of more fulfilment to come. The indication is that all is fulfilled in Christ, and which is in line with Jesus’ own declaration at Mt 5:17 that He had come to fulfil the prophets.
2 The sense of this statement is easily misunderstood. Peter is not saying that David had not yet (i.e. at the time Peter was speaking) ascended into the heavens, but simply that at the time David was writing he (obviously) had not yet ascended into the heavens (and thus that considering that he was at that time king and therefore ‘lord’ of Israel, the fact that he was addressing another as Lord meant that that other one was Lord indeed!).
[35] “Until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
All kings have enemies while they reign, and so the reign of Christ was never intended to be characterised by a resistanceless domain, but rather, conflict.
So:
“For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet” 1 Cor 15:24.
And therefore and despite what we see through carnal eyes:
"All power and authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth" Mt 28:18.
And we emphasise:
“in earth”.
And thus it was told to a certain king of Babylonia that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will” (Dan 4:3).
And so and with regard to the matter at hand, David himself declares in the spirit that his (own) throne would be built up to “all generations”: evidently such declaration was not in reference to his own throne after all.
[36] “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
And so Peter tacitly declares that the reign of Christ is not carnally delineated, but is rather that which consists solely in the Lordship of Christ. For the Lordship of Christ consists of none other than His Cross, and there can be no other virtue which might render one lord over another, than the giving of such a one’s life for that other.
Or what? Shall He who declared that the Gentiles lord it over their own, rule by the same principle?
No rather:
“the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” Mt 20:28.
For we are not told that the Son of God is the power of God, but that Christ is the power of God (1 Cor 1:24), which, although speaking of the same person, is (contrastively) emphatic of the Cross. It is the Cross which renders Christ king, and we know that because the Cross is sufficient for all things, no carnal reign ever need be, and neither therefore ever shall be, appended thereto.
In concluding …
“The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” Jesus Christ
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” 2 Cor 4:18.
“And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” Col 1:17.
“that in all things He might have the pre-eminence” Col 1:18.
Amen.
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THE THRONE OF DAVID: A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF ACTS 2:30-36
[30] “Therefore being a prophet, and 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 sit on his throne;”
Indication that David knew in the Spirit that Christ would sit on his (David’s) throne. (Here the term “raise up” is not used to indicate a resurrection from the dead, but a (metaphorical) raising up/elevating to power.)
[31] “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.”
Here we are told that the resurrection of Christ from the dead would be equated on the pragmatic axis with the above-mentioned “rais[ing]” : the raising up of Christ to sit on his father David’s throne would be coextensive with His being raised from the dead.
And so whilst there was of necessity a looking ahead by David, there was no looking ahead by Peter: the resurrection of Christ is here tacitly declared by Peter to be the terminus: we are not being told about a resurrection to be followed-up at some later stage by a sitting of Christ upon an earthly throne, but a resurrection which was in and of itself that very sitting on a (necessarily-spiritual) ‘throne’.
[32] “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”
Here Peter fuses together the metaphorical “rais[ing]” of v30 with the subsequently-mentioned raising that was the resurrection, in so doing essentially employing a play on words.
But yet again we see that the resurrection of Christ and God’s sitting of Him on the throne of David are (tacitly) declared to be one and the same thing: there is no suggestion of any event yet to be fulfilled: the resurrection of Christ is in no uncertain terms implied to be the fulfilment of all.
[33] “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”
Here we are (additionally) told that the resurrection of Christ in fact constitutes the (very) exulting of Him by God.
And so given that to be exulted by God can consist of nothing less than a sharing with Him in His reign1, we necessarily understand the resurrection of Christ to consist of His being made to sit on the throne of God.
1 See Rom 8:17, 1 Cor 4:5, Eph 2:6, 2 Ti 2:12, Rev 20:6.
And so given that we have been told that the resurrection of Christ was (also) the sitting of Him on the throne of David, we understand the throne of David and the throne of God to be one and the same thing – that the throne of David is in fact a figure for the throne of God.
[34] “For David is not ascended 2 into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,”
Here is emphasised the transcendence of the (eternal) nature of the reign of Christ over the domain in which David reigned. This (philosophical) point alone tells us that the Lord will never take His seat on an earthly throne.
And so again it goes no further - there is no looking beyond the now, no looking toward a future event, no telling the listening Jewish ears of more fulfilment to come. The indication is that all is fulfilled in Christ, and which is in line with Jesus’ own declaration at Mt 5:17 that He had come to fulfil the prophets.
2 The sense of this statement is easily misunderstood. Peter is not saying that David had not yet (i.e. at the time Peter was speaking) ascended into the heavens, but simply that at the time David was writing he (obviously) had not yet ascended into the heavens (and thus that considering that he was at that time king and therefore ‘lord’ of Israel, the fact that he was addressing another as Lord meant that that other one was Lord indeed!).
[35] “Until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
All kings have enemies while they reign, and so the reign of Christ was never intended to be characterised by a resistanceless domain, but rather, conflict.
So:
“For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet” 1 Cor 15:24.
And therefore and despite what we see through carnal eyes:
"All power and authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth" Mt 28:18.
And we emphasise:
“in earth”.
And thus it was told to a certain king of Babylonia that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will” (Dan 4:3).
And so and with regard to the matter at hand, David himself declares in the spirit that his (own) throne would be built up to “all generations”: evidently such declaration was not in reference to his own throne after all.
[36] “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
And so Peter tacitly declares that the reign of Christ is not carnally delineated, but is rather that which consists solely in the Lordship of Christ. For the Lordship of Christ consists of none other than His Cross, and there can be no other virtue which might render one lord over another, than the giving of such a one’s life for that other.
Or what? Shall He who declared that the Gentiles lord it over their own, rule by the same principle?
No rather:
“the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” Mt 20:28.
For we are not told that the Son of God is the power of God, but that Christ is the power of God (1 Cor 1:24), which, although speaking of the same person, is (contrastively) emphatic of the Cross. It is the Cross which renders Christ king, and we know that because the Cross is sufficient for all things, no carnal reign ever need be, and neither therefore ever shall be, appended thereto.
In concluding …
“The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” Jesus Christ
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” 2 Cor 4:18.
“And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” Col 1:17.
“that in all things He might have the pre-eminence” Col 1:18.
Amen.