Richard Allen – May 6, 2024
As we have been going through the teachings of the New Testament on various passages, I mentioned several weeks ago that I would be giving three specific examples of how modern-day teachers misquote the Scriptures. My First Example was the prophecy of Elijah’s coming – which Jesus himself says was fulfilled in John the Baptist. My Second Example was that of equating the Tabernacle of David to a physical Temple, using Acts 15:16-17. In both examples, the New Testament writers pointed to a Spiritual Fulfillment of Scripture, NOT a Carnal-Natural Fulfillment. Let me say that again, the debate is Not between a Literal Fulfillment vs. Allegorical Fulfillment of Scripture, as modern Bible teachers declare, BUT between a Carnal-Natural Fulfillment vs. a Spiritual Fulfillment. I would hope that all Christians want to know the “Spiritual Intent” of all Scripture. The Jews in Jesus’ day were only looking for a Carnal-Natural Fulfillment of all the promises, prophecies and hopes they had for the Redemption of their nation. They were obviously wrong, partly because they didn’t grasp a fundamental truth that Scripture teaches:
“Thus, it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.’ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45-47).
This passage is relevant to our discussion, as it’s comparing the Second Adam, Jesus Christ in His Resurrection, to the Natural Adam, made of flesh and blood. This doesn’t mean because we are “born again,” not of the flesh, but the Spirit – that we have license to interpret Biblical passages any old way we choose. No, we want the “spiritual meaning” that God intends for us in every passage of Scripture – and especially where Jesus or His Apostles give us clear direction! One such passage is Acts 2:29-36 where Peter proclaims the Risen Christ fulfilled God’s promise to David:
“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
My Third Example of mis-quoting Scripture is regarding the “Throne of David.” I can’t actually say it any better than the Apostle Peter did above on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:29-36). Peter clearly explains that: 1.) King David was, in Peter’s Day dead and buried, and his tomb was there in the City of David, Jerusalem. 2.) That even though David was dead and gone, God had promised with an oath that He would set one of David’s descendants on David’s Throne. 3.) Peter declares that when David was prophesying of His future Son – he was speaking of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! The Resurrection, Peter tells us, is the “fulfillment of God’s oath to David,” that a future descendant would be raised to his throne. 4.) Jesus, the Son of David – whom the prophecy spoke of – had been resurrected from the dead, His body not suffering corruption in the grave. 5.) David’s Son, Jesus, was not only raised from the dead, but Raised and Exalted to the “Right Hand of God!” 6.) The real action on Pentecost was not happening in Jerusalem as “tongues of fire” fell, and simple Galileans spoke in other languages. No, the real action was happening in the Heavens at the Coronation of Jesus Christ! 7.) As a result of Jesus being Raised to the Right Hand of God, He gave the promised “Gift of the Holy Spirit” to the Church! (Ephesians 4:8). 8.) The Apostles and witnesses in the early Jerusalem Church witnessed the Inauguration of The Age of the Spirit – coming with power and glory!
After reading a passage like that, you would certainly think the case is settled. But no, according to these modern-day teachers: “Jesus was merely raised from the dead to His Father’s Throne, with all power in Heaven and Earth given to Him” (Matthew 28:18) – as if that is insignificant. They say He has Not Yet been given David’s throne in Jerusalem. Now, that would be really big! In reality, they are telling the Apostle Peter that he doesn’t know what he was talking about – even though Peter directly quotes God’s promise to David of seating His Son, Jesus, on David’s throne. These teachers acknowledge that Jesus is David’s Son, but maintain that until He sits on an earthly throne in Jerusalem, reigning with a Rod of Iron over godless humans (a third of mankind will be unbelievers), all the while Levitical Priests slaughtering thousands of animals each day in the Temple – a half mile away! Wow, that sounds like a real glorious throne. But it gets worse, they also teach that Jesus will have to forcibly reign over fallen men and women in the flesh, until Satan is loosed again from the “bottomless pit,” and then the “whole world will once again try to evict Jesus from this glorious throne!” If you understand Jesus’ so-great-salvation, this storyline smells! It looks like the Angel Gabriel, who announced Jesus’ birth to a young virgin, Mary, wasn’t told about David’s temporary Throne:
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32-33).
I’d say this verse is pretty definitive. No temporary earthly throne ending in “Christ being rejected once more.” And yes, Jesus is ruling over the house of Jacob! Romans 11 makes it clear that there is “one olive tree” (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and that we Gentiles have been “grafted into it” with other “natural olive branches,” Jewish Believers!
But many Bible teachers from the Dispensational Camp, look at those very verses in Luke, while ignoring other verses that Luke wrote in Acts of the Apostles that we quoted above, regarding Jesus’ Resurrection and David’s throne. Here’s how one writer completely ignores the New Testament’s authority, teaching the doctrines of men:
“At first sight one would take the expression ‘the throne of David’ to refer to David’s reign in around 1,000 BC. However, Luke uses this expression in a way that demonstrates how much wider its scope is. He tells us how Gabriel announced the coming of Christ as a Savior, and then goes on to say: ‘He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father’ (Luke 1:32). Clearly, in this verse, the ‘throne of David’ refers to the millennial reign of Christ. This is confirmed by the use of the name of ‘the Highest’ (or ‘Most High’), a title used for God in connection with the millennium. David’s reign foreshadowed the reign of Christ. This time of Christ’s reign has not yet come. He has not yet taken his throne. At present, Christ is sitting on the Father’s throne (Rev. 3:21). When He subdues His enemies, He will be sitting on the throne of David, the man of war (1 Chr. 28:3). Once the enemies are subdued, He will reign as Solomon, the man of peace.” [Michael Hardt - 2024 Biblecentre.org]
To some, the writer above may sound scholarly, but he hasn’t proven anything except that he is completely wedded to a false system of Biblical Interpretation. I should tell you that the entirety of the New Testament Scriptures teach that Jesus was raised to David’s throne. Here are a few passages to consider:
“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’ God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ So, it is also stated elsewhere: ‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’ Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay” (Acts 13:32-36).
And here's what the Prophet Daniel saw regarding Christ’s Kingdom in his vision:
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).
David’s throne is not some paltry, temporary or physical throne – sitting in a “war-torn” country – in sweltering heat. No, the throne of David – that King Jesus now sits on, is God’s very throne, on which Jesus says He sat down, after over-coming sin and death (Revelation 3:21).Turns out in answer to my question above: David’s Throne is not on earth, but is the Throne of God in Heaven! Let’s close with the prayer of Paul the Apostle as he expresses his desire that the Ephesian Church might grasp the vast extent of Jesus’ Kingdom and Throne. I also pray that many deceived men, having fallen for a false system of interpretation – would have their eyes opened to see the “present glory of Christ!” Let’s not trade the glorious inheritance and feast we have in our Resurrected King, for a bowl of “Millennial pottage” that will not last, but will rot in the bowl and end with Jesus once again being rejected by this sorry, sin-sick world.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this dispensation, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:17-23).
Soli Deo Gloria!