Session #12
Covenant 5: David -Kingdom
Intro
We will begin this session, after the beginning of the book of Joshua which picks up at the death of Moses immediately following Deuteronomy. Joshua, son of Nun, is the one to lead the Israelites into the promised land.
why Jericho
This story, if you grew up learning, talking, or reading sacred scripture to any substantial extent, you have probably heard this story. For our purposes, this is simply a historical moment that is both worth noting for the whole story of Israel and provides us with a little bit more of a timeline.
"And Joshua sent the people away, and the children of Israel went every man to his house, and every one to his inheritance to occupy the land. There is no doubt that this is repeated here by recapitulation (Cf Jos 24,28). Because even the death of Josué Nave himself is mentioned even in this book (Cf Jc 2,8), to briefly insinuate all things as if from the beginning, when God granted them the land, and to indicate how they lived under the Judges or what they had to endure. And so it goes back to the order of the book of Judges, from the order that had first been established."
What are we reminded of here
So, the man blows a trumpet, invades a town, and dies. This is a historical event, yet it holds important lessons. People are often led astray by a faulty or absent shepherd. After Israel received what it had most deeply desired, there was no record of consistent gratitude—it was largely taken for granted. Despite being given the ideal space for communion with God, they failed to choose it.
This pattern can, and often does, occur in our own lives. We are liberated from sin, but when the spiritual landscape changes and we are no longer tempted in the same way, what happens next? Complacency sets in, and we underestimate the enemy. We fall back into old patterns, much like Israel's return to paganism. Though paganism wasn’t truly fulfilling, they didn’t relapse out of logic, but rather out of a deeper, psychological pull. In addiction recovery, this is called relapse syndrome—where the familiar, even destructive, sins have a profound effect on our psyche and physiology.
In the end, Israel messed up again.
"After them came another generation that did not know the Lord or the things that he did for Israel. The author explained why he said that he did not know the Lord, that is, in those preclear and admirable works through which it happened before them that Israel knew the Lord."
What stuck out to you reading this?
Paganism is akin to adultery for Israel, a direct betrayal of God's desire to guide us toward salvation. No matter how faithful we are or how much we witness to others, there are times when those who know us may still prefer their sins over virtue. This is often referred to as "stubbornness of heart" or "hardness of heart."
Now, we move to the time when David enters the story, through yet another great narrative.
"Deuteronomy puts the following in the mouth of God, when speaking of these enemy peoples: I will not expel them in a single year, so that the land will not be deserted, and the beasts of the field multiply against you. I will expel them little by little, until you multiply and grow and conquer the land (Ex 23:29-30). The Lord could keep this promise of his for the obedient ones, so that the extermination of those nations, as the Israelites grew, would be partially done, not allowing their multitude to leave deserted the lands from which the adversaries would be exterminated. The phrase: And do not multiply against you the beasts of the field, I would be very surprised if you did not refer to the desires and passions, in a way beastly, that are usually born of a sudden attainment of earthly happiness. For it is not true that God could not exterminate men and could not annihilate the beasts, or rather not allow them to be born."
To cooperate with God's grace, we must first recognize His power. David’s boldness, the grace he was given to trust, and the providence he received exemplify the kind of relationship we need to overcome great obstacles in our lives.
Interestingly, David was anointed by Samuel before this pivotal moment. He was strengthened by knowing what God had ordained for him. Imagine if every Israelite soldier had approached battle with this same trust in God's will, much like Joan of Arc did. This also highlights how spiritual wisdom can be possessed by the humble.
The prophet Samuel played a crucial role in transitioning the people of God from the era of judges to the reign of Saul, and now from Saul to David.
Note:
The Head of Goliath's javelin weighed 15 pounds.
In this Bible study until now we have not discussed the ark:
What might the ark of the covenant remind us of?
Tabernacles
Holy of Holies - Numbers 7:89
What sort of crazy things have happened with the ark?
Exodus 25:10
1 Samuel 4 (Refine specific verses)
1 Samuel 5-7 (Refine specific verses)
2 Samuel 6 (Refine specific verses)
2 Chronicles 35
Revelation 11:19
We can notice the very familiar language used here, where might we have heard this before?
that God used with Abraham.
Though we did not cover it in our readings, by this point, Saul had betrayed both David and God. The idea of having a king came from the people themselves, desiring to be like other nations, despite God advising against it. Yet, in His mercy, God blesses this choice through David.
At times, we can grow frustrated with God’s mysteriousness and the elusive nature of His communication. It’s easy to feel weary when His guidance doesn’t seem clear. However, it’s important to understand that God didn’t abandon His initial admonition against having a king; instead, He chose a king for them to protect them from the greater danger of forgetting the LORD.
Let us continue reading.
If desired and appropriate you may read to the end of the chapter
God has established His covenant with David and then in response contemplates not only the significance of such a covenant but also his unworthiness.
-Good stopping point-
From the beginning, the author shows where Solomon goes wrong and the extent of his mistakes. Without exaggeration, the Lord is right—Solomon indeed let his heart wander from the One true God, and this is understandable. Christ said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." A wandering heart is led by emotion, myopic to eternal truth, and filled with lust, seeing things and others as potential substitutes for communion with God. This reveals a deflection from the reign of reason and justice.
In our own time, we soon realize that we cannot please everyone, we cannot always achieve ideal friendships, and we cannot serve both God and the fleeting, limited pleasures of earthly life. This tension can lead us to make choices we wouldn’t typically make. The "mountain on the east of Jerusalem" refers to the Mount of Olives.
The significance of numbers in Scripture is often symbolic, emphasizing a point, rather than correlating to specific external realities, which can sometimes become superstitious. The number 666 in this passage highlights that something is missing—just as corruption signals a lack of something vital.
What does Solomon's gathering of wealth remind you of?
Deuteronomy 17:16-17 - We may recall Christ's words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," and His command to His apostles to live in poverty. Similarly, we remember the problems of the Middle Ages, when both clergy and royalty lost focus on Christ and became consumed with wealth. The repetition of the word "many" in this verse, along with the large numbers used in Kings to describe Solomon's actions, further emphasizes this.
The overall meaning of this verse is that Solomon abandoned the Lord and the way of his father by allowing his heart to wander, prioritizing wealth and worldly pleasures over his devotion to God.
In spite of this failure
In looking at Solomon, we can see several comparisons to Jesus Christ. He is the son of David and king of Israel. He is known for his divine wisdom and for being the temple builder. His kingdom has international influence. All this foreshadows Jesus, who is the ultimate son of David and the King who fulfills all the promises made to David’s dynasty. Like Solomon, Jesus is known for his great wisdom and is the one who builds the new temple in His body (John 2). And it is Christ’s kingdom that ultimately fulfills Israel’s worldwide mission, extending God’s reign over all the Earth.
This is a key verse for Catholics because it describes the structure of the Old Testament Kingdom. Familial structuring and roles of delegation were the norm, which was see time and again with the leadership of the sons of Jacob or later known as Israel and Christ takes on perfect every authority known to man in the Old Testament and transforms it and then delegates like positions upon those in the New Testament (if elaboration is desired; Luke 22:19-20; Isaiah 22:21-24, Matthew 16:17-19 1 Kings 2:13-20; revelation 12:1-2, 1 Chronicles 24:1-5, 31, Acts 1:21-26). We look at our relationship with the Blessed Mother and Christ in a prefigurement. The Mother of the King was the Queen in an Old Testament Kingdom. This also illuminates the New Adam to New Eve Relationship. We will look into this in the next two passages.
Luke 1:46-56 - Here we see the glorification of Mary in her role in the kingdom.
John 2:1-6 - Here we see Mary acting in her role during the life of Christ
More on Mary in general (back)
So the Kingdom Splits into North and South. Ten tribes who knew themselves as the Israelites made up the North Kingdom with a Pagan priesthood being exiled in 722 BC by the Assyrians. The Southern Tribes of Judah and Benjamin would be known collectively as the Jews or Judah
As an aside: we notice the concept of Servant leadership mentioned here and this is developed in the 7 "I am..." statements of Jesus in the Gospel, John 10. The Concept of Christ, the Gate.
Fun fact: Christ is a Descendant of Rehobo′am the father of Abi′jah (Matthew 1)
We see the Babylonian Empire led by Nebuchadnezzar (Gold), Medo-Persian (arms of Silver; 539 BC to around 330 BC), Greco-Macedonia (Bronze; began to be defeated by Rome in 190 BC and finally in 31 BC when Rome made it to Egypt), and Roman Empire (legs of Iron, [they were more despotic than prosperous hence iron] which would not decline until 117 ish AD) i.e. the Kingdoms leading up to Christ foretold. (see graphic below)
The Roman Empire would be a highly opportune time for the spread of Christianity because citizenship was pretty universal, the effect borders has on the spread and nature of the Church can be seen when the Eastern Orthodox Church separated from the rest.
The Clay mixed with Iron symbolizes Hellenism: A Greek Philosophical/cultural flavor, with Roman interpretation of religions, and distinct in those it influenced by their culture and previous religion.
We see a foretelling of the interbreeding of the Israelites with pagans, which is now in the time of Christ.
Luke is understood to be a Greek Physician and Paul wrote in Greek as well, even Christ would likely have learned at least some Greek Philosophy under rabbinical instruction in addition to Aramaic which He spoke and the Hebrew he read in the scriptures.
Above all we see the foretelling of a final and eternal kingdom which cannot be destroyed. This would be a definitive fulfillment of every covenant made.
It is interesting that in the context of this foretelling of the Church in the Rock which would become the whole world, directly connects with the timeline of Christ who founds the Church, which would become the whole world and Peter was named by Christ to be the Rock
In this way, Daniel lays out the course of Judah from the time of Babylonian captivity to the time of Jesus Christ. He prophesies that 490 years will pass before this new kingdom will come about (Daniel 9:20-24) and prepares the people to receive a new king who will bring about a new kingdom.
