The Throne of David was conditional

British Israel series

1. Introduction

One of the most well known aspects of the British Israel (BI) theory, is the supposed unconditional promise given to King David and that he would “never fail to have a descendant sitting on his throne”. From this it is then inferred that unless God is a liar, we must have a natural descendant of David sitting on the throne today somewhere in the world. British Israelites of course see this fulfilled in the current British Monarchy.

Not only is this idea the most well know aspect of Revivalist BI doctrine, but it also absolutely critical to the whole theory.

In support of this theory, the following verses are often quoted:-

2 Samuel 7:16 (KJV)

"And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever."
(for a fuller explanation of this chapter of 2 Samuel see 2 Samuel 7)

Psalm 89:35-37

Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah
(for a fuller explanation of all of Psalm 89 see the article on the Evil kings and the promise of the throne)

Jeremiah 33:17-21

For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;.............Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne;............

(Please note how I have "presented" Jeremiah 33:17 & 21-22. Several of my BI publications also present it in a similar manner).

These verses above, when strung together in the manner they often are, allow BI to provide a very convincing looking witness that God made an unconditional promise to David that one of his 'natural' seed would always be on the throne.

I have heard some that espouse BI state that "because God said it, we know it must be true". They then reason that it is not so much that BI has to conclusively prove itself correct, but rather, that those who disagree must prove it wrong.

So let us develop the theme....

2. Was the promise actually 'unconditional'

The simple reality is that the aspect of King David's 'natural' seed sitting on the throne was totally conditional. Following are some verses not generally quoted by British Israelite's. These verses highlight, quite pointedly, the very conditional nature of the promises relating to the throne.

Jeremiah 33:17-21 (the full text)
For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

When the complete verses from Jeremiah 33 are presented, the problems become obvious regarding any form of literal or natural fulfillment of these promises (especially in Queen Elizabeth). Here we see the priests, Levites and continual sacrifice of offerings, are all associated with the continuing throne. These have no fulfillment at all in the Queen of Britain, which is why they are often glossed over when these verses are quoted. The fulfillment of these aspects was of course in Christ, as we can see by quite simply referring to the previous verses 15 & 16 of Jeremiah 33 i.e. the 'Branch of Righteousness, Jesus Christ, our High Priest'.

Some of the RCI articles I have read also quote Jeremiah 33:25-26 instead (in support of the unbroken line from David to Queen Elizabeth). This makes little difference to their problem at hand, as these verses, in the same chapter, are simply a reiteration on the verses quoted above and are written in the same context i.e. A Branch of righteousness, the Lord our Righteousness, the priests, the Levites, the sacrifices etc.

1 Kings 2:1-4
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, if thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

The promise of children on the throne was conditional. Looking at the negative aspect of this warning, it openly declares that if Solomon's children were disobedient "There will fail a man on the throne of Israel".

Some BI supporters try to wrestle with these Scriptures and claim that they do not really mean the throne would be cut off, just that the disobedient king would be removed or chastened. In doing this they completely over look the intent and purpose of Gods warnings. For a fuller rebuttal of this incorrect idea see the article on the Evil Kings and the promise of the throne where we can see that perhaps the most evil king of all actually had the longest rein of any! Also see the overview of the book of Jeremiah as it relates the the fall of the Throne of David.

To continue:

Psalm 132:11 (KJV)
The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.

Again, the promise of children / seed on the throne was conditional. Also, the attempt by some BI adherents to say that the warning only meant the disobedient king would be removed, totally breaks down as the Scripture clearly states that if a King was good, his children would be on the throne. The reverse of course is that if the king was bad, his children would not sit on the throne, it was not just limited to the king but to his lineage. We also see that part of the promise was simply that Solomon (David's son) would unconditionally sit in the Throne, which he did.

The following is spoken by Solomon

1 Kings 8:25 (KJV)
Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; SO that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

The above version, taken from the King James says "so that thy children". The New King James provides a slightly easier translation to follow:-

1 Kings 8:25 (NKJV)
Therefore, LORD God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only IF YOUR SONS take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’

Solomon was fully aware that his seed could forfeit their right to sit on the throne.

2 Chronicles 6:16 (KJV)

Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; YET SO that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

Again, the King James Version does not express the idea very clearly, but where it states "yet so that thy children" it should be expressed (as in 1 Kings 8:25) as a conditional statement. Funny enough, in my old Nelsons KJV center reference bible, they specifically link this part of the verse to Psalm 132:12 (another conditional scripture).

To show the New King James rendering of this verse

2 Chronicles 6:16 (NKJV)

Therefore, LORD God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, ONLY IF your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

Again we see the promise of children on the throne was conditional.

1 Kings 6:11 (KJV)
And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art in building, IF THOU WILT WALK in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:

1 Kings 9:2-7 (KJV)

That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. AND IF thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: THEN I WILL establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

I don't think the Lord could have been any clearer than he was in the above verses. The promise of children on the throne was conditional.

1 Kings 11:9-13 (KJV)
And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.

Of course Christ was descended from David, and it was Christ who fulfilled the promises. Also notice that 'one tribe' was to be given to Solomon's son for the sake of David and 'Jerusalem', not for Britain. See the article on 'The Apostle Peter, Pentecost and the Throne of David'

Summary

From the scriptures listed above and associated articles, it is obvious that BI has confused the promises relating to the eternal 'office' of Kingship over Israel through Christ, with that of a specific individual 'sitting' on the throne.

The eternal throne was unconditional and is fulfilled in Christ (Acts 2:29-30, Heb 1:8 etc). Christ of course was descended from David and it is Christ who will also 'endure forever' as the rightful King, the 'Branch of Righteousness'

The promise of a literal descendent always being on the throne was conditional (1 Kings 2:1-4; Psalm 132:11; 1 Kings 8:25; 2 Chronicle 6:16; 1 Kings 6:11; 1 Kings 9:2-7; 1 Chronicles 28:6). These conditions were clearly not met, so according to scripture, the literal ascendancy of David's offspring was forfeited. The Bible seems quite open in affirming their fall and removal. For a better overall view of this theme, see the article entitled 'An overview of The book of Jeremiah and the Throne of David'

To preach that the Bible states there MUST still be a literal descendant of David, sitting on the throne in this day and age over a literal Israel is simply not in line with the overall view of the Scriptures.