The Scripture speaks of three separate occasions when David was anointed King.
The first occasion was when Samuel anointed David as a NAGID or “king In Waiting”.
Now, I’m well aware that verse 13 doesn’t specifically use the phrase “king in waiting”, but verse 1 does and makes it clear this was the reason why Samuel was sent to the family of Jesse in Bethlehem.
Here’s the Scripture reference:
“Sh’mu’el took the horn of oil and anointed him there in his brothers’ presence. From that day on, the Spirit of Adonai would fall upon David with power. So Sh’mu’el set out and went to Ramah.”-1 Samuel 16:13
The second anointing took place in 2nd Samuel Chapter 2.
This ceremony was conducted by the leaders of Judah to make David the ruler over the southern House of Judah.
Here’s the Scripture reference:
“Then the men of Y’hudah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Y’hudah. They informed David that the men of Yavesh-Gil‘ad were the ones who had buried Sha’ul.”-2 Samuel 2:4
Finally, the third anointing took place when David was anointed by the northern tribes who were called the “elders of Israel”.
This made David “king over Israel”.
But understand in this context, “Israel” does NOT mean all of Israel, it means that David was made king over the northern tribes.
In other words, a king over Judah and a king over Israel are two different things.
Here’s the Scripture reference:
“So all the leaders of Isra’el came to the king in Hevron, and King David made a covenant with them in Hevron in the presence of Adonai. Then they anointed David king over Israel.“-2 Samuel 5:3
Again, “Israel” here does NOT mean all of Israel, it’s only referring to the Northern tribes.
The entirety of Israel means both the Northern tribes (sometimes referred to as Ephraim) and the Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Jeremiah referred to this same construct when he talked about the new covenant.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and
with the people of Judah.”
-Jeremiah 31:31
Again, in this context “the people of Israel” is only referring to the Northern tribes.
The Apostle Paul also refers to the same construct in some of his writings.
“For, brothers,
I want you to understand this truth
which God formerly concealed
but has now revealed,
so that you won’t imagine
you know more than you actually do.
It is that stoniness, to a degree,
has come upon Israel,
until the Gentile world enters in its fullness;
and that it is in this way
that all Israel will be saved.”
-Romans 11:25
Paul is referring to exactly what Jeremiah was referring to: the northern tribes of Ephraim (Israel) and southern Judah.
Alrighty, so what’s my point in mentioning all this?
Well, here’s the thing.
The Scripture contains many inscrutable mysteries that’ll sometimes cause us to scratch our heads in a daze of confusion and wonder.
But it also contains things that are completely unambiguous and as plain as day.
Things that are rooted in practical history and regional politics.
The timing of publicly announcing David as the king of Israel was one of those things.
See, it made perfect sense to NOT announce David as the new king at this time because Saul was still on the throne.
On top of that, he had the support of the northern tribes at a time when Israel was politically divided between the North and the South.
The northern tribes led by Ephraim had installed and enthusiastically backed Saul.
But the southern tribes led by Judah were a different story.
They may have acknowledged Saul but weren’t too happy about this northern-backed pawn (as they saw it) ruling over them.
So it made sense that David’s tribe Judah would be overjoyed to have one of their tribe members as king.
Are you getting the political situation here?
This is important stuff to understand man.
It explains why David had to officially be made King of the South (Judah) first before he could expand his power to all of Israel.
On top of that, King Saul had to die so that the throne would be vacant leading to a power struggle over who would be the next leader of the northern tribes.
These are some of the political factors that would lead to Israel becoming united under David as ONE sovereign nation.
So the takeaway for today is simple.
It’s important to understand the practical political considerations that led to the Kingdom of God being established under David on earth.
Because it is those same political factors and influences that are going to lead to the Kingdom of Heaven being established under the son of David or the Messiah.
Ya feel me here homies?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“From that time on
Yeshua began to preach,
‘Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.'”
-Matthew 4:17
P.S. I forgot to mention something important about the city of Jerusalem.
So in verse 2nd Samuel 5:3, it says that David became king of Israel after the elders of Israel chose him.
Again, this means the leaders from the northern part of Israel accepted David as king (David had already been chosen by the southern tribes before this).
Now, when this happened David knew he needed to find a fair and neutral place to make his capital city.
That’s why he chose Jerusalem.
If he picked a side, the people would think he was playing favorites and not being a fair king to all 12 tribes of Israel.
So that’s one tidbit of information I had…I just HAD to share it with you.
Why?
‘Cause Jerusalem is soon to become the center of world events as I type these words right now…
And there’s a ton of political wisdom to be gained from studying the Scriptures that are DIRECTLY relevant to our times today!
See ya all next time.
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