Shabbat shalom everyone,
This is the seventh Sabbath of the Omer-counting period, so we are going to be taking a look at the seventh and final part of God’s Covenant. It is the fourth covenant with the Assembly of Israel (after the one with Abraham and the Patriarchs, the Sinai covenant, and the Moab covenant).
The main thrust of this Covenant, is that as long as Israel’s anointed kings are righteous and just, and follow YHVH alone, then Israel will prosper, and dwell in safety and security. However, if Israel’s messiah-kings turn aside from God’s ways, follow other gods, or act cruelly or unjustly, then Israel’s fortunes will take a turn for the worse, and Israel will become vulnerable to her enemies.
The main text of the Davidic covenant is found in 2Sam 7:8-16, with a slightly different version in 1Chron 17:7-14. Other details and repetitions of the Davidic covenant can be found at Psalm 89:4-5, 132:11-12, 2Sam 23:5-6, 1Kings 8:25, 2Chron 21:7, and Jeremiah 33:22. You can read a summary of the terms and responsibilities of this covenant about a third of the way down this article.
What this covenant tells us, is that originally, ‘messiah’ was not a synonym for ‘saviour’; it was merely a title of Israel’s anointed kings – all the kings of Israel and Judah were ‘messiahs’ (even the bad ones); and Israel’s kings were not originally considered perfect human beings – hence the need for this covenant, to keep them in line.
Messianism is therefore a woeful corruption of this covenant – firstly among mainstream Judaism, that God would give us a perfect king who would live forever, which then in Paullist Christianity became a sinless god. Christian messianism comes from post-Exile Judean messianism, so there is no point quoting ancient Jewish teachings on the messiah to justify the Christian messiah, because they’re wrong anyway.
In my commentary on the completion of the Mishkan (Ex 25:1-26:30), I mentioned how the Mishkan and its symbolism was supposed to give the Israelites such a ‘wow-feeling’ – to give us such a profound sense of, “So that’s what it’s all about”, that when we read about the subsequent golden calf episode, it really hits us in the stomach, about how base and how far away from YHVH’s design and divine will the calf-worship actually was. The Israelites made a puny (in relative terms) and powerless idol to represent their God, just because they wanted something visible of God to travel before them.
Similarly, the jarring and incongruous attachment of messianic theology to the Israelite faith – something that happened only in the 6th century BCE – would have been a similar gut-punch for anyone who remained faithful to the original ideals YHVH gave us. Messianism is the creation of those who want a visible saviour, which is no different to wanting a visible God. YHVH was, is, and always will be, Israel’s Sovereign King, and only Saviour.
Having a human king was not part of God’s original plan; God only reluctantly gave Israel a human king. Wanting a human king was seen by God as rejecting God (see 1Sam 8:8). And God does not change God’s mind (Num 23:19), implying that God is still unhappy that we invest so much emotional and spiritual energy in a messiah, instead of in God. We can either have our whole faith centred on YHVH, with YHVH as our Saviour, focussing on the Kingdom of God, or we can have our whole faith centred on the messiah, on the coming of the messiah, and on the messiah’s kingdom – we cannot have both. We either serve YHVH with our whole heart and mind, or we can serve the messiah – we cannot have both. Either YHVH is the centre of faith, or the messiah is – we cannot have both. We can either put YHVH on the throne of our heart, or we can put the messiah on the throne of our heart – we cannot do both.
Messianic hope is wasted spiritual time
Always think on this – that before the 11th century BCE, no faithful follower of YHVH ever longed for a messiah-saviour – Abraham didn’t, nor did Isaac or Jacob, nor did Moses or Joshua, nor any of the Judges of Israel. Their Saviour was always YHVH, and only YHVH. And it was all because they were fully aware that their living God – the God whom they related to on a daily basis – was with them, and was already their Saviour-King.
Think on this too: if you need to long for a saviour to come, then in effect, you are actually saying that you are unhappy with how God is doing the job as your personal Saviour, and things could be done better if there was a messiah to rule over us, instead of God.
Messianic longing is a waste of our spiritual time. Rather than being filled and strengthened in the present moment, by the ever-present power and blessing of YHVH, a Jewish messianist will spend the time praying for the coming of the Moshiach, because they think that only then will the Jewish people supposedly be free of our troubles. Well, how about we try this: how about realising that YHVH is already our Saviour-King, and that YHVH is ready and willing to direct us towards peace and prosperity now?
Then there is Christian messianism. These messianists have been waiting for the messiah to come for nearly 2,000 years. There are fundamentalists today, whose entire prayer-life is filled with prayers for ‘Jesus’ to return; their faith is entirely dependent on the coming of the end-times; they are convinced that the end-times are soon, and even castigate those among them who do not hold to the same assuredness, for lacking in faith.
Well, instead of preaching hate on each other, and on everyone else, how about this for a novelty: how about showing compassion to the outsider, the lost and the forgotten; how about showing some understanding towards those who are not one of your community? How about having a kinder regard towards those you normally spurn and demonise, or how about applying your supposed ideals across the board instead, in all situations, in all of society, and not selectively, just in those situations which you support politically?
God’s Kingdom to come
Yeshua taught his followers to have faith in the coming of God’s Kingdom, not the messiah’s kingdom. God’s Kingdom is assuredly here and now, but we also have a long-term hope in the future fulfilment of God’s Kingdom. We await the day when God’s Kingdom accomplishes all God’s plans – the perfection of the human race, a lasting world peace, an end to all war, an end to disease and suffering, and ultimately, the full power of YHVH’s Glory dwelling among us, so that heaven and God’s Will reign on earth – as the Our Father says, ‘on earth, just as it is in heaven’.
The responsibilities of the Covenant
This Covenant was specifically with David and all his direct, male-line descendants.
As with all the different parts of the Covenant which YHVH has cut with us, God has responsibilities, and we have our responsibilities.
God’s responsibilities:
- Give David great renown, greater than all the kings of the earth
- Establish an eternal lineage of kings
- Promise that the kings who sit on Israel’s throne will always be of David’s line
- Give David a son who will build a Temple for YHVH
- Always be with David to strengthen him
- Crush David’s adversaries
- Extend his kingdom
- Make his descendants more numerous than the stars of the sky
The responsibilities of David and his descendants:
- Keep all God’s covenants
- Uphold God’s teachings
- Act in accordance with God’s rules, laws and ethical principles
- Observe God’s commandments
What God will do for Israel if Israel’s messiahs remain faithful to YHVH:
* > Establish an eternal home for Israel
- Plant Israel firmly on that land
- Make them to dwell securely and without fear
- Give Israel safety
- Evil people will not oppress them
What will happen if Israel’s messiahs turn away from YHVH:
- Israel will be defeated by her enemies
- The country will suffer general misfortune
- The messiah will also suffer personal misfortune
What the messiah was meant to be
In ancient times, between humanity’s ages of local chieftains and the time of the first kings of cities and countries, a king was the general of their people’s army. This was the original position that the king of Israel was supposed to have.
In our modern western system, political governance covers most aspects of our lives, and religious leaders only deal with spiritual matters (which means that for most people in a secular society, religious leaders have no relevance at all). Israelite society was structured differently. For practical purposes, there were three equal branches of power:
Religious branch: this was headed by the High Priest. It was in charge of spiritual matters, as well as taxation for social welfare and religious purposes (social welfare was the responsibility of the religious community).
Military branch: this was headed by the king. It dealt with defence, civic order, and political relations with other nations.
Civil branch (the Justice system): this was headed by the 12 tribal leaders, who also acted as the chief magistrates of the people. It covered civil disputes and criminal cases, and included the elders, judges and ‘officials’ of the tribes. Whereas the other 2 branches were national, this was more localised and regional. Local tribal culture and traditions would also have been overseen by this branch. Referral to the chief priests was only made in very difficult cases.
In the ancient Israelite system, there were no political leaders as such; power was instead spread out amongst the three groups, so that none could exert undue influence over the other. Each was supposed to balance and check the excesses of the other two. This is why in the Israelite faith, a king cannot be High Priest, and a High Priest (or even a priest) cannot be king. Ancient Israel was the very first nation on earth to have the ideal of a ‘separation of church and state.’ If the two mix – if religious leaders also become political leaders – then both become corrupt (as happened when the Hasmonean priests became kings).
The ideal king – the people’s king
In most societies, the king is at the top of a social hierarchy, and there is little or no meeting between the top and the bottom. Around the ancient Middle East, no one could criticise a king, because they would be executed; and pagan peoples treated their kings with the same reverence they had for their gods.
In the Israelite religion, no human being, no prophet, and no leader, is ever given the same reverence that a Yahwist is supposed to reserve solely for YHVH. For that reason, no human being should be considered perfect, no religious leader should be considered perfect, and no king or prophet should be considered perfect, because only YHVH is perfect.
An Israelite king can be criticised and rebuked, because he is not perfect – he is a servant of God, just like every other Israelite. A good Israelite king knows the needs of his people – he is a figurehead for his country, and if he sees that there are those who seek to divide the nation, and push certain sections of it aside, then the king is supposed to be there to enact God’s will, and ensure that his country does not become divided.
The prophet Yeshua` taught the biblical concept that the leader was the servant of all. He said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord their authority over them, and those in positions of leadership arrogantly hold their authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave to all.’ (S.Yesh. 149:1-2 – cf Mk 10:42-44)
With high social rank come obligations. In a Yahwist society, the nobility have a duty to protect the least in their society, which for most of history they failed to do. There will always be some obstacles that the poor alone cannot move. If the poor and destitute have good reason to respect and stand right beside those of higher social rank, then there is nothing that such a society cannot achieve! Greater still, there is no enemy who can overpower them, no foe they cannot defeat!
This was the foundational principle underpinning YHVH’s ideal of a human king. You have to realise that in those days, 3,000 years ago, the kings of the earth had no interest in anything but their own aggrandisement, power and wealth. The only things they cared about were the accumulation of more gold, more land, more herds, slaves, finery and influence than anyone else.
YHVH forbade Israelite kings from behaving like this (Dt 17:14-20). YHVH our God knew that a king who cared for and looked after his people – regardless of their station in life – would have a people behind him whom he could count on to rally to arms if their country was attacked, and defend their nation and their way of life, no matter what. Such a nation would be a formidable one. This was the prime motivation behind the ideal of Israelite egalitarianism.
The real ‘Messianic’ prophecies
Most of the ‘messianic’ prophecies that Christians use, are all taken out of context, so I won’t look at them in this article. The prophecies that mainstream Judaism uses to build up their perfect messiah, in fact apply to Israel’s few good kings, who have already been and gone. For example, the child promised in Isaiah 9 actually refers to King Hezekiah (reigned 716-686 BCE). Others refer to King Josiah (reigned 640–609 BCE).
The good things that God has promised for the future, we do not call ‘messianic‘ prophecies as such; to us, they are prophecies about the fulfilment of God’s Kingdom.
If you look honestly and realistically at those prophecies in the Hebrew Bible which are genuinely yet to be fulfilled, these prophecies can be classified into eight groups:
- the exiles of Ephraim & Judah will return; Ephraim & Judah will be reunited
- There will be widespread observance of Torah by Israel
- God will appoint a Messiah
- the Covenant between God and Israel will be renewed
- There will be Universal Knowledge of God
- There will be a pouring out of the Glory of God
- There will be a universal Reign of peace
- The Temple will be rebuilt in a time of peace
The event that is generally understood to come first, is the return of the scattered exiles of Ephraim and Judah. We know that the exiles of Judah have returned, but the lost exiles of Ephraim (the descendants of the northern kingdom) have yet to return to the Land. When that happens – when Ephrathites return to the land of Israel, such a miracle will galvanise the rest of Israel to return to God’s Torah. After that, when we are ready, it is then that God will choose a descendant of David to rule as king, over a reunited Israel.
These are the genuine messianic prophecies, which genuinely apply to a future messiah:
Jeremiah 23:5-6, 33:14-17, 30:7-10, Ezekiel 34:23-30, 37:24-28, and Isaiah 11:1-10
As you can see from the above timeline, the appointment of a future king for Israel will only happen once the exiles of the northern kingdom have returned to Israel. God’s plan is for this to happen first – before a Davidic king, and well before the rebuilding of the holy Temple. So therefore, there is no point in asking God for a messiah to come, if the exiles of Ephraim are nowhere in sight. YHVH, and YHVH alone, will appoint a human king over Israel when God is ready, at a time of God’s own choosing – not at a time of our choosing, or at a time when humans have decided. Any future anointed king will be God’s choice, not ours.
Summary
The messiah was never meant to be a perfect being; he is not an eternal being; he is not our saviour. The Davidic covenant was meant to keep the descendants of David in check, so that they would remain faithful to God and God’s Covenant, and not go astray or become authoritarian despots.
So I therefore say this to you who are interested in following the Way: if your faith is built around hope for a coming messiah (who is never going to come in your lifetime), then you are living on wasted spiritual time – even if you yourself can’t see it. What practical difference does believing in a coming messiah make to your daily life? What difference does it make to your spiritual life – does believing that Yeshua will come again somehow improve your life, or give you an edge over other people? Does it improve your chances of getting into heaven? Your life is better spent in building the Kingdom of YHVH on earth – living God’s noble ways, spreading them throughout human society, and furthering peace and good will among all peoples and faiths.
A truthful and realistic view of God’s covenant with David and his descendants, will help you, as a Talmidi, to realign your spiritual priorities, and realise that you don’t have to waste your life waiting for a human saviour to come, at a time you will never know, in an age you will never see; but that you can live your life to its fullest potential in the here and now, knowing that your eternal Saviour is already with you, right now, ready to work with you to build God’s kingdom on earth.