ADVENT DEVOTIONAL | Day 7 | A True and Better King

READ
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Samuel 7:12-13

REFLECT
In this passage God gives David a promise of establishing the throne of his kingdom forever.

Yesterday we looked at Jesus as the perfect high priest, but we also reflected on the hundreds of years the Israelites depended on weak, sinful, and temporary priests. In the same way, God’s promise of establishing a perfect and eternal throne would take many generations to fulfill.

God did raise up David’s son Solomon as king of Israel, but he fell short of being a perfect and eternal king. Along with His promise of establishing an eternal throne through David’s line, God said, “When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men.” (2 Samuel 7:14) This proved true not only in Solomon’s failures but also in the many kings who followed. God disciplined Israel and Judah through foreign rulers, exile into Babylon, and the destruction of the temple Solomon built.

RESPOND
How do we view God and His promises when things don’t seem to be going according to plan? When our lives, our country, and our world feel far from being ruled by a perfect and eternal King?

We look to Christ, who said He “conquered and sat down with [His] Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21). Christ came hundreds of years after David as the promised descendant of the royal line. He lived a sinless life, died an undeserving death, and now sits on the eternal throne of His everlasting kingdom.

As we wait for His return, we have a hope fulfilled that the Israelites longed for:

a perfect King who gave up His throne to be a ransom for His people.

Christ is the true and better King.
If we surrender our lives to Him, He promises that we will rule with Him in His kingdom forever. Let that be your hope today.
Artwork By Georgia Davis
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