From 1077 B.C. to 1037 B.C. Israel under her second king: David

When Jacob (who was called Israel when he was older) knew that he was going to die, he pronounced an individual blessing on each of the twelve tribes of the people. He expressed a very special blessing towards the tribe of Judah. This tribe would produce a great dynasty of kings of Israel. As described above, this promise was fulfilled in 1107 B.C. When the youngest son of Jesse was born, Jesse and his family lived in Bethlehem and belonged to the tribe of Judah. The youngest son mentioned was called David and when he was still young, he was anointed Israel’s second king by Samuel. He became the ancestor of a long dynasty of kings who sat on “David’s throne” for centuries.

The battle described above between the Philistine armies and the Israelite armies led by Saul took place in 1077 B.C.

After Saul’s death, JHWH advised David to go to a town that was situated in the center of Judah: Hebron. Here, David was anointed king by the older men of his tribe. David was not yet recognized as king by all the people of Israel in the next seven and a half years. Many considered Saul’s son Isboseth the lawful king. Both parties had armies and now and then there were skirmishes. Only after Isboseth’s death did all the people decide to accept David as their king. In 1070, all the older men of all the twelve tribes came together in Jerusalem and David was anointed king for the third time (the first time by Samuel, the second time by the older men of his tribe of Judah, and the third time by the older men of all the twelve tribes). About this time, he conquered Mount Zion in Jerusalem, a mountain that was very hard to capture. He made it the capital of his country. The Ark of the Covenant (the chest covered with gold with the two stone “tablets” inside), which had been housed in a tent somewhere in a small village, was moved to this new capital of the country.

Both King David and Israel prospered from 1070 onwards. Both became extremely well-to-do, powerful, and highly respected by neighboring nations. David built himself a grand palace and lived in opulence.

But the most important thing in this period of great personal and national well-being happened when JHWH approached King David through His prophet Nathan. He made a covenant which would prove to be of essential value for mankind’s history and the realization of God’s intentions with man and the earth. JHWH promised David that he would produce a dynasty of kings that would never end. Literally, JHWH said to King David (read 2 Samuel 7:16): And your dynasty will remain till time indefinite; yes, your throne will be a permanent one.

This covenant between JHWH and King David is of extreme importance for all people of good will. As a result, mankind will receive great blessings. All this will be dealt with in greater detail further on in this book. We will now continue the history of God’s people under King David.

Since David himself lived in such a wonderful palace, he also wanted to build a grand house for his God: a temple. But God advised him to have such a temple built by the son who would be king after him.

During all his years as the king, David waged wars against the various neighboring nations. He was very successful in this. He succeeded in substantially enlarging the territory of Israel until it reached the borders that God had fixed for them when the people entered the Promised Land.

Though David possessed hundreds of wives and concubines, he committed a very grievous sin which had to do with an attractive woman. From the roof terrace of his palace, David saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of his warriors who was at the front, taking a bath. He had her brought to him and slept with her. When, shortly afterwards, she turned out to be pregnant, David tried to hide his misconduct. He sent Bathsheba’s husband home to his wife and advised him to take a few days off in his own home. However, the man refused to sleep with his wife because he thought that he could not do that while his fellow-soldiers were risking their lives at the front. Then David made his sin even worse. When Bathsheba’s husband returned to the front, David asked him to hand his commander a letter. It stated that Bathsheba’s husband ought to be deployed on a spot at the front where the fighting was fiercest. At the height of the battle, the other soldiers were to withdraw from him so that he would be killed.

The king’s plan was carried out. Bathsheba’s husband died. Shortly afterwards, King David married her.

Of course, all this was a terrible sin in the eyes of God. JHWH decided to punish David severely. Through His prophet Nathan, He made it known to David what his punishment would be. The first one was that David’s wives would be publicly dishonored. David would be confronted with very painful family problems. Lastly, the child in Bathsheba’s womb would die.

Shortly afterwards, Bathsheba’s child died. Then David’s sons started to behave in a horrible way. They committed crimes like rape, revenge for rape, and even murder. Some had to leave the country and go into exile.

In the end, one of David’s many sons, Absalom, laid a plot against his father. He acquired a lot of followers who were willing to support him in his attempt to drive King David from the throne. The situation in Jerusalem became so dangerous for David that he had to flee the city and to leave most of his wives and concubines behind. In public, for all the people to see, Absalom now dishonored many of the wives and concubines of David and he deeply humiliated his father.

Finally, it came to a battle between that part of the army that had remained loyal to David and the part that supported Absalom. In this battle, the rebels were defeated and Absalom was killed. David became the king of all Israel again. But God’s punishment of David for what he had done with Bathsheba and her husband was not over yet.

Someone from the tribe of Benjamin proclaimed himself king and many people followed him. This rebellion was put down. After this, there was a famine in the country for three years and the people were again attacked by the Philistines.

In the end, David sinned again. When he was already more than 60 years old, He ignored JHWH’s express prohibition and he ordered his civil servants to find out how many inhabitants Israel had. Again, God punished him severely. He could make a choice from three forms of chastisement: seven years of famine, three months of defeats in the war, or three days of pestilence. David chose the last chastisement and 70,000 Israelites lost their lives.

In the course of the year 1037 B.C., 70-year old David felt that his end was near. When one of his sons was preparing to take over his throne by force, the prophet Nathan advised King David to do what he had intended to do for years and what was approved of by God. This was for Bathsheba’s son Solomon to be anointed as his lawful successor. After he had arranged his succession in accordance to God’s will, King David died in his beloved Jerusalem and was buried there.

(It is very worthwhile to read the life story of Israel’s greatest king in the Bible itself. It is to be found in 2 Samuel. The story of how Bathsheba’s son Solomon became the successor of King David can be read in the first two chapters of 1 Kings.)