Steve Conover: Welcome to the Friends of Israel Today. I'm Steve Conover, with me is our host and teacher, Chris Katulka. Have you visited our website foiradio.org? After this episode ends, visit us at foiradio.org, there we have over eight years worth of programming for you to enjoy. Once again, that's foiradio.org.

Chris Katulka: Steve, we're wrapping up our series on King David. We've seen King David as the Shepherd King, the Warrior King, and even the Psalmist King. Well, today on our last installment of the David series, we're going to look at his legacy. Did you ever read the beginning of Matthew 1:1? It says, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." David's legacy plays a major role in God's plan of redemption.

Steve Conover: But first, in the news, the Times of Israel reports that member of Knesset Elazar Stern from the opposition party Yesh Atid publicly offered to discuss his party joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form an alternative government. However, Yesh Atid leader and former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said, "We won't enter a Netanyahu government."

Chris Katulka: Well, Steve, here's my take. With all the political strife in Israel right now, MK Stern is taking a bold step, attempting to bring the Israeli government back in line with the people. His willingness to partner with Netanyahu reveals his desire to truly fix the problems in the Knesset, not just play the partisan game.

Chris Katulka: We are concluding our series today on King David. Now, over the past three weeks, we've been looking at the life of David through the lens of a shepherd and then a warrior, and then a psalmist. But we saw that David would use his resume as a shepherd to show that he was capable of putting to rest Israel's enemies, Goliath and the Philistines. You remember that story. David would not only tell King Saul that he was brave enough as a young man to tackle the Goliath problem, but he was willing to risk his life like a shepherd does to rescue God's flock. And who's the flock in picture here? The flock is Israel. And David would rescue Israel from their enemy. David believed that he could take down Goliath because see, David trusted in God's word. He knew the creator of heaven and earth was on Israel's side.

David wasn't just a small shepherd boy, he was showing Saul and the people of Israel that he was capable of leading Israel as a king. David could lead and guide his people in the ways of the Lord as well. His time as a shepherd prepared him also to be a warrior king, a king who was able to ward off Israel's enemies and to expand the kingdom of Israel to the place that God wanted it to be while still maintaining that care, that concern for his sheep, his nation. Being a warrior can make David sound like he's kind of disconnected from the spiritual and emotional side of life, but David was also a gifted musician and psalmist, it's in his psalms you see David's heart poured out before God, a heart of a man who's strong enough to admit that God is the true shepherd king of Israel who guides and leads the nation. A humble enough to repent from his sin and asks for forgiveness as well.

David's psalms show the complexity of a man's heart as a father, as a husband, as a warrior, as a king, and today we're going to conclude our study on David by looking at his legacy. If you didn't get a chance to listen to the series on David, I'd encourage you to go to foiradio.org, and there in our archives page, you can hear the first installments of the series and nearly eight years of teaching as well. Again, that's foiradio.org.

King David's legacy spans the scriptures. His name is remembered both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and here's the reason why. See, God made a promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:13-14. This promise, actually, it has a name. It's called the Davidic Covenant. Listen to the promise that God made to King David in 2 Samuel, and we'll start in verse eight. It says this, "So now say this to my servant David. 'This is what the Lord of heaven's armies has said: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd to make you a leader of my people. I was with you wherever you went. I defeated all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle them there. They will live there and not be disturbed anymore. Violent men will not oppress them again as they did in the beginning and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people of Israel. Instead, I will give you relief from all your enemies.

'"The Lord declares to you that he himself will build a dynastic house for you. When the time comes for you to die, I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons to succeed you and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name and I will make his dynasty permanent. I will become his father and he will become my son, and when he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with the wounds inflicted by human beings. But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will stand before me permanently, David, your dynasty will be permanent.'"

Now, first of all, before we dig into this special promise that God made to David, let's go back and review the first two verses where we hear about David, the Shepherd King, David the Warrior King, and David the Psalmist King. Verse eight says this, "I took you from the pasture." You remember that? "From the work as a shepherd to make you a leader of my people." That's God saying, "David, you're the Shepherd King." Verse nine says, "I defeated all your enemies before you." That's David following God, but that makes David the Warrior King. And then finally verse nine says, "God says to David, I was with you wherever you went." You remember last week when we looked at one of David's most famous Psalms, Psalm 23? David writes, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." David says to God, "You are with me," in his psalm. And God in this promise says to David, "I was with you wherever you went," the shepherd, the warrior, and the psalmist seen in God's great promise to King David.

But what did the promise say? What was God saying in this promise? First of all, the entire promise is predicated on the fact that David wants to build a house for the Lord, a temple in Jerusalem. David doesn't believe it's right that he lives in a castle in Jerusalem while the God of heaven and earth, the creator of heaven and earth lives in a tent. Remember, the temple hasn't been built yet, so he's still living in a tabernacle in a tent. And this is where the promise comes into play. Because see, God denies David the ability to build a temple for Him, but makes a promise that one of his sons would, and God also promises David a permanent dynasty starting in verse 12 when it says this, "When the time comes for you to die, David, I will raise up your descendants, one of your own sons to succeed you and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name and I will make his dynasty permanent."

So wrapped up in this promise is a legacy for David that is also, think about this, a prophecy.

And the prophecy that we're seeing here in this promise is both nearsighted and farsighted. The nearsighted part of the prophecy is that one day David's son will be king of Israel and he will build God a temple or a home and God will establish his kingdom. So in nearsighted prophecy, God is telling David that Solomon, his son, will continue David's work as king and God will establish a kingdom for Solomon, and Solomon would also come to build God a temple which was actually completed around 957 to 960 BC. It actually happened. The nearsighted prophecy seen here is that David's dynasty would never end. It would go on in perpetuity, it says.

It's interesting if you look at the difference between Israel and Judah after the kingdom splits, after Solomon's reign, Israel's kings in the north if you remember the story of how the Kingdom of Israel split, when that split happened, Israel's kings in the north went through several houses as they called them. There was the house of Jeroboam and the house of Baasha and the house of Omri and the house of Jehu. What that means is that in the north, the Davidic line, when that kingdom split in half was cut off and fell under another Israelites leadership. But Jeroboam, who was the first king of the northern 10 tribes of Israel, didn't have the same promise that David had. David was promised his dynasty would reign forever, while the northern 10 tribes, different families ruled throughout Israel's history. That's why in the southern kingdom, David's line was never cut off. Now, that doesn't mean that David's sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, ruled like he did. No. In fact, most of them failed to live up to David's leadership. After the death of each of the kings in David's family, they would be compared to their father David.

Listen, after King Asa's death, it says, "Asa did what the Lord approved as his father David had done." Yeah, thumbs up, A plus for you King Asa. But here's another one, it says this, "He did what the Lord approved, but not like his father David had done." Close, but not close enough, not to be like David. There are other moments when God wanted to judge Judah and to change its leadership because of the inability for David's descendants to rule as God intended them to rule but he didn't change from David's household because of the promise that God made to his servant, his servant David. Just listen to what 2 Kings 8:19 says. It says this, "But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of his servant David, to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty." God preserved the promise that He made to David because God made that promise to David on his own. It was a one-way promise. God promised David, and there was nothing David was required to do in return. It was an unconditional promise.

Now, if you're only looking at the nearsighted prophecy, it can seem somewhat depressing for David and his family who succeeded him on his throne. But see, when you get to the farsighted prophetic view of what God is doing when He made that unconditional promise to David, it begins to make more and more sense why God would remain faithful to his servant David. Now to find out why he would remain faithful and why that farsighted prophetic view is very important, you got to stick around to find out more.

Steve Conover: Hey, Chris, did you know that August is Make-A-Will Month?

Chris Katulka: Steve, actually, believe it or not, I did, and that's why it's so important to make time to consider your future planning, especially since it's so easy to put it off until another day.

Steve Conover: I agree, Chris, and it's why it excites me that the Friends of Israel has partnered with FreeWill to enable you to write your legal will for free. In as little as 20 minutes online, you can create an estate plan to protect your assets, support the people and organizations that you love, and have the opportunity to include a legacy gift in your plans.

Chris Katulka: When we were planning out our will for the Katulka family, I wish I would've known about FreeWill, and so we hope that you'll join us on Make-A-Will Month. To get started on writing your legal free will, go to foi.org/yourfreewill. Again, that's foi.org/yourfreewill.

Okay, welcome back. We're wrapping up our series here on King David, and today we are talking about his legacy. David's name is found all throughout the Old Testament after his death. It's mentioned in the historical writings of the kings and the chronicler. It's even mentioned in future prophecy when God promises to restore Israel in prophets like Ezekiel, Amos, and Micah. See, God needed to fulfill the promise that He made to David in 2 Samuel 7, which we read in the previous segment of the program. God promised it. It was a one-way promise to David of a dynasty that would rule in Israel forever and David's name would forever be tied to Israel as a legacy of God's faithfulness. But how is it possible that when David's sons who rule after him just don't live up to God's law or to God's standards? Did you ever read the beginning of the Gospel of Matthews, the first New Testament book that appears after the close of the Old Testament?

The New Testament doesn't open with the birth story of Jesus right away, it actually opens with his family tree. And in the first verse of Matthew 1, the gospel writer wants you to know something big. Matthew 1:1, "This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." As the dynasty of David was spiraling down away from God, God promised to restore the Davidic dynasty. David's lineage would never be cut off, it would continue to live on but in somewhat of a hibernation status. But the Prophet Amos promised this in Amos 9, starting in verse 11. It says, "In that day," speaking about the future, "I will rebuild the collapsed hut of David. I will seal its gaps, repair its ruins, and restore to it what it was like days gone by."

God would restore the broken house of David. He would do it through a son of David who would remain obedient to the Father. Jesus the Messiah, the King of Israel, is the son of David, He is the son of Abraham who would allow David's kingdom to be an everlasting kingdom just as God promised to David. And how will God do this? Well, listen to how the Apostle Paul describes Jesus right in the beginning of the letter to the Romans. In Romans 1, starting in verse one, it says, "From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. This gospel He promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures," listen to this, "concerning his son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh who was appointed the son of God in power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord."

See, Jesus is both the son of David in the flesh according to the promise, that Davidic promise that we have been reading about, and He's also the Son of God according to the Holy Spirit as the scriptures say. And how do we know that He's the son of God? He's resurrected from the dead to prove that not only is Jesus God, He's resurrected from the dead to show that the Davidic kingdom would endure forever, both go hand in hand. David's legacy is not just seen in Jesus's first coming, David's legacy is manifest in Jesus's second coming at his return, our prophetic hope. Just listen to what Jesus's final words to us are. Revelation 22:16, it says, "I Jesus," this is Jesus himself speaking, "I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you about the things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." David's legacy is eternal thanks to the unconditional promise God made to the shepherd, warrior, and psalmist King. David's legacy is realized in the person and work of Jesus, the Messiah, His son, and the son of God.

Steve Conover: Israel on the verge of becoming a state, a teenage Holocaust survivor arrives on her shores alone. His name is Zvi Kalisher. Little did he know his search for a new life in the holy land would lead him to the Messiah. Zvi, enthusiastic to share his faith, engaged others in spiritual conversations, many of which can be found in our magazine Israel My Glory. While Zvi is now in the presence of his savior, his collected writings from well over 50 years of ministry continue to encourage believers worldwide. Now, Apples of Gold, a dramatic reading from the life of Zvi.

Mike Kellogg: Proverbs 19:21 says, "There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel that will stand." I recently took my wife to the hospital for the treatment of an eye condition. I planned to be there for an hour and then go to my neighbor's home to make some electrical repairs but the Lord had other plans. Many had brought newspapers to read, and the more religious people had brought the Talmud or other commentaries. I of course had the Bible. And shortly after we sat down, an elderly man and his wife sat next to us. He quickly placed a copy of the Talmud on the bench beside me so I could see it. He then said, "This is the most interesting part of my life, the Talmud. What do you think about it?" I responded, "I would not devote even one hour of my life to that book."

He was very unhappy at my remark and asked, "Are you a Jew?" "Yes I am," I replied. "Then how can you say such a thing?" he asked. I took out my small Bible and said, "I have devoted my life to this book. It is nothing like the Talmud." He was quiet for a few moments and then asked, "Which rabbi do you favor?" I replied, "I do not prefer any of them, but I must love them because we're all created in the image of God." He said, "Well, I'm glad we have some common ground. Do you believe the Messiah has to come now?" "My dear," I replied. "The Messiah must return and he may return at any time." "Aha," the man said. "Now I know who you are. I came to Israel so I would not have to listen to such statements from a goyim." Goyim means gentiles. "And now I'm hearing the same thing in Israel from a Jew," he said. I replied, "Do the Jewish scriptures state the Messiah will come from New York or from Jerusalem."

I gave him some time to think, but then another man in the waiting room answered, "One of the most popular verses in the prophets is Isaiah 2:3, 'Out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.'" This man and another continued their conversation about Christ with the man sitting next to me. I could tell they were true believers in the Lord. I was so happy that for the first time, I could remember I was not alone witnessing about Messiah. Now, I was sitting back listening while other believers spoke about him. And now the man was very confused and could not believe so many people disagreed with him in Jerusalem, and finally he asked, "How did you arrive at such conclusions?" I spoke up again and said, "In Deuteronomy 16:20, it is clearly written, 'You shall follow what is all together, just that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.'" Although this conversation lasted for more than four hours, it passed very quickly. I planned to return there again because it is a good place to witness for Messiah.

Chris Katulka: The impact of Zvi's life in ministry in Israel, it didn't end when he went home to be with the Lord. In fact, Zvi's legacy lives on. Our Friends of Israel Ministry representatives continue to share the gospel in Jerusalem, Israel, and really all throughout the world. We also serve Holocaust survivors and their families. We provide free food, medicine, and clothing, and we even promote the safety and security of the state of Israel and the Jewish people everywhere. So when you give to the Friends of Israel, your donation actually allows us to advance the gospel of our Messiah Jesus. You can give online by visiting foiradio.org. Again, that's foiradio.org. You can click right there on our donate link. Also, be sure to let us know where you listen when you contact us.

Steve Conover: Thank you so much for joining us this week. We hope you've enjoyed our study on David. Next week is our ministry highlight and we have a special guest. Where are we headed, Chris?

Chris Katulka: Yeah. We're going to have Linda Craft on and she's Friends of Israel's new volunteer coordinator, and she's going to talk about a new ministry that we have here at Friends of Israel, actually one that maybe even our listeners could participate in. It's called the Tikvah Team, our Hope Team. It's our volunteer network with the Friends of Israel.

Steve Conover: We hope you join us. Our host and teacher is Chris Katulka. Today's program was produced by Tom Gallione, edited by Jeremy Strong, who also composed and performs our theme music. Mike Kellogg read Apples of Gold, and I'm Steve Conover, executive producer. Our mailing address is FOI Radio, PO box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey 08099. Again, that's FOI Radio, PO box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey 08099. And one last quick reminder to visit us at foiradio.org. The Friends of Israel Today is a production of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. We are a worldwide evangelical ministry, reclaiming biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah while bringing physical and spiritual comfort to the Jewish people.