And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
Ezekiel 34:23-25
This prophecy above, given to Ezekiel, was received hundreds of years after the death of King David. God was not promising Israel that He would raise King David from the dead to rule over His people again. He was speaking of the greater David, Jesus who is the good Shepherd as John 10:11 says. Yesterday, we looked at the parable of the proposal of Adam to Eve as Christ’s proposal to You, His bride, that needs a response. We rephrased Genesis 2:23 as “And Adam said, this is my many membered essence and my body that bringeth forth good news. This sheep shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. In 1 Chronicles 11:1-3, Israel’s response to King David is a type of a response of the bride to her groom, re- echoed by Paul in Ephesians 5:30-32: We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.
Though anointed King by God, David began ruling when he had been accepted by His brethren as King over them. The consequence of this can be seen in the subsequent chapters where He conquered the heights of Zion. Hebrews 12:22-24 calls the church of the first Born, Christ, mount Zion and a heavenly Jerusalem. Therefore, this conquest and proposal of the greater David, Christ, has a significance in our lives too. David means Beloved. His anointing over Israel was done in Hebron, which means fellowship and a place of intimacy. The true nature of Hebron is that we are in a state of perpetual fellowship with our Beloved, Jesus the greater David. Saul means one who is desired. He was the ruling King in Israel before David. In a similar way, the anointed Christ sits as King over our desires when He is enthroned in the place of our one to one communion/ fellowship with Him.
The covenant of Peace stated in Ezekiel 34:23-25 was needed because Israel got divided. Yet, God had made it so that there was a perpetual covenant with the house of David, that David will rule His people forever. Rehoboam, David’s grandson, called this a covenant of Salt in 2 Chronicles 13:5. Dwelling with Him in Hebron gives you access to this perpetual covenant that you will be preserved. This covenant of peace is a surety for us and we can know that we will not be moved like David said in Psalm 16:8. We can be persuaded that absolutely nothing can separate us from God as seen in Romans 8:38-39.
After David was anointed King, He set out to redeem Zion. David conquered the stronghold of Zion after defeating the Jebusites (Meaning Oppressors or threshers). Redemption means you have been delivered from oppression, but it does not stop there. You are also empowered to deal with your oppressors. Hence, the result of men being with David from Hebron was that those with Him were also strong enough to conquer their oppressors who were in Zion. David conquered and set His throne on the Hill of Zion. Accepting the proposal of our Beloved, Jesus, introduces us to this unending covenant of life and peace. Accepting His proposal gives Him the right to conquer our hearts and set His throne there. The result is that we will not only live in freedom and peace, we are empowered to remain free, forever. Whosoever the Son sets free, is free indeed, John 8:36.
Prayer for today: Heavenly Father, I thank you and I appreciate You. Lord, I echo it loud again today and forever that I am your bone and your flesh. I am convinced that because You have brought me into this covenant of peace and preservation, nothing can separate me from Your love. I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. Amen.
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