Dispensationalists claim that the throne of David that Christ Jesus would sit upon is a physical one. They argue that David knew nothing of a spiritual fulfillment. Was Jesus’ throne meant to be a physical throne here on Earth? Or is there more information that Dispensationalists are once again not telling people, and are themselves ignorant of?
A king has a kingdom and a throne. Pre-millennialists believe that Jesus is a King without a kingdom or a throne, despite what Scripture has to say. This is because they focus too much on the Old Testament at the expense of the New Testament. They need to read the Bible backwards; start with the New Testament and then go to the Old Testament. The New Testament is contained in the Old Testament concealed, while the Old Testament is contained in the New Testament revealed. Understanding the New Testament will help them to understand the Old Testament. But, like the Pharisees of old, they ignore what the Scriptures actually have to say.
“He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam. 7:13-16)
The prophecy concerning the throne of David in 2 Samuel 7:14 is key, as both Solomon and Christ Jesus were to sit on David’s throne. The fact that Jesus is seated upon this throne now is easily seen to be fulfilled at Pentecost. Paul repeatedly acknowledges the fact that Jesus is seated on this throne now, ruling now. But wait! What else do we find in Scripture?
“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The seal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” (Isa. 9:7)
“A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, and a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness.” (Isa. 16:5)
“Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”’” (Zech. 6:12-13)
“I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever and build up your throne to all generations.” (Ps. 89:3-4)
“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 TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:29-36)
Pre-millennialists fail to grasp the fact that an earthly throne was apostasy against God. It angered Him from the time of the first king, Saul, right on up to the last king prior to the Babylonian captivity. From the Babylonian captivity onward, Israel no longer had their own king but were ruled by foreign nations (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome). Originally, God had been Israel’s king, and He reigned from His throne in heaven. However, Israel, in their covetous idolatry, demanded to have an earthly king like the other nations. This apostasy angered God so much that He wiped out their crops.
“But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”” (1 Sam. 8:6-7)
“Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king.” (1 Sam. 12:17)
“When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, “No, but a king shall reign over us.’ although the LORD your God was your king. Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you.” (1 Sam. 12:12-13)
From the above passages, we can see that it is quite clear that God recognized that He was being rejected by Israel, and so in a symbolic way He allowed His throne to come down to Earth and have men sit upon it and rule in His place. The earthly throne was a symbol for God’s throne in heaven. Please note how the Bible calls the earthly throne of David and Solomon “the throne of God” and “the throne of the kingdom of God”:
“Of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.” (1 Chron. 28:5)
“Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.” (1 Chron. 29:23)
“Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the LORD your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” (2 Chron. 9:8)
“So now you intend to resist the kingdom of the LORD through the sons of David, being a great multitude and having with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you.” (2 Chron. 13:8)
In a double prophecy, God promised David that two of his seed would sit on his throne: Solomon on Earth, and Jesus in heaven after His resurrection. While Solomon was the king who would build the physical temple on Earth, Jesus was the King Who would build the spiritual temple in heaven. In order to build the temple, Jesus had to be a King. We are that temple!
“you are a temple” (1 Cor. 3:16-17)
“your body is a temple” (1 Cor. 6:19)
“we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16)
“in [Jesus] the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:21)
“you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 2:5)
Can we prove this fact further? Yes, we can.
“the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands” (Acts 7:48)
“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24)
“For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24)
“[John] saw no temple in [the new Jerusalem], for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (Rev. 21:22)
Why is the concept of an earthly throne an absolute absurdity?
“Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar? Or is he an undesirable vessel? Why have he and his descendants been hurled out and cast into a land that they had not known? O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD, ‘Write this man down childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; for no man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.’” (Jer. 22:28-30)
“After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.” (Matt. 1:12)
Jesus is a literal natural descendant of Jeconiah. According to the Bible, no descendant of Jeconiah would ever sit on the earthly throne. Thus, the throne of David is quite obviously forever in heaven. Because God was angered by the disobedient and rebellious idolatry of Israel’s kings, He removed the throne from Earth and returned it to heaven until Jesus, the descendant of David, would sit upon it.
“It is your destruction, O Israel, that you are against Me, against your help. Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities, and your judges of whom you requested, “Give me a king and princes”? I gave you a king in My anger, and took him away in My wrath.” (Hos. 13:9-11, Emphasis supplied.)
Today, it is Jesus who shares the throne with the Father, just as David had shared the throne with God in the past. Please take not of the co-ownership of the kingdom between God the Father and Christ Jesus:
“For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (Eph. 5:5)
“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Rev. 3:21)
If Pre-millennialists paid more attention to what the Bible says, they would make less interpretational blunders. The proposed restoration of an earthly throne would once again anger God: “I gave you a king in My anger, and took him away in My wrath” (Hos. 13:11).
