Steve Conover: Thank you for joining us for The Friends of Israel Today. I'm Steve Conover. With me is Chris Katulka, and we'd like to remind you right at the top, when you have a chance to visit foiradio.org, there you can keep up on all that's happening in Israel. There's also nearly nine years of Friends of Israel Today teaching free to listen to when you visit our archives page at foiradio.org.

Chris Katulka: Well, Steve, we're continuing our series on the promise that God made to King David, a promise that's incredibly important, because last week we saw really the bedrock of this promise that goes back to when Jacob blessed his 12 sons and he specifically said to Judah that the scepter would not depart from him.

A kingly line would come from the tribe of Judah. Well, now today we're going to actually look at the essence of this promise, which comes from 2 Samuel 7. And so I think our listening audience is really going to enjoy diving into this very important promise.

Steve Conover: But first in the news, the Indigenous Coalition for Israel opened an embassy in Jerusalem this month in an effort to combat rising antisemitism since October 7th and to identify the Jewish people as indigenous to the land of Israel. The ICFI Embassy will be housed in the Friends of Zion Museum, a museum showcasing Christian Zionism and its contributions to Israel.

Chris Katulka: Well, Steve, here's my take. The ICFI's Embassy is a testament to truth, truth that even other Indigenous groups from American Samoa, Australia, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Tahiti, and Taiwan, as well as Native American chiefs and paramount chiefs from South Africa recognize, and that truth is this, that the Jewish people are indigenous to the land God gave them, the land of Israel.

Now, before we get to our program, we just want to say that we lost one of our biggest fans of The Friends of Israel Today and supporter of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, and that was Steve's mom, Mrs. Conover. Steve, we're very sorry for your loss, but also knowing and rejoicing that your very, very faithful mom, faithful to the Lord, is now standing in his presence.

Steve Conover: Thank you, Chris. It's a special honor just to hear her name mentioned on this program because she loved The Friends of Israel since she was introduced to it in the mid 1950s, so the legacy she's given to our family in ministry at The Friends of Israel is really special to me.

Chris Katulka: May her memory be a blessing.

Steve Conover: Thank you, Chris.

Chris Katulka: We're continuing our series today on the amazing promise that God made to King David. I mentioned last week that I was going through nearly nine years of radio content that we've developed, and I noticed we've talked about the promise that God made to Abraham. We've talked about the Mosaic Covenant. We've even talked about the New Covenant. But in all the years of talking about these foundational biblical covenants in the Old Testament, I've never spent time on the promise, the covenant that God made to King David.

The promise that God made to King David is bedrock to understanding why Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which is called the City of David, why he was called the Son of David, why he's to rule over God's kingdom forever. It's the reason why Jesus is called the King of Israel, the King of kings, the Messiah. It's even the reason he's called the Son of God and the Son of Man. All of this roots back to a single promise that God made to King David. Now, last week we briefly examined the roots of the Davidic promise that go back to Jacob and his 12 sons.

And I mentioned that in Genesis 49 when Jacob was blessing his boys, he was pronouncing a blessing on Judah to whom the scepter, he says, would never depart, which means that through Judah, the tribe of Judah, the king who would rule over Israel, would arise. Now, let's fast-forward several generations and several hundred years to King David. Samuel the prophet anointed the shepherd boy from Bethlehem King of Israel in 1 Samuel. Bethlehem was in the tribe of Judah.

Through much turmoil and anguish, David patiently waits for God to install him as king, since Saul was still ruling over the 12 tribes of Israel. By the end of 1 Samuel, Saul and his son Jonathan are killed by the Philistines and David is enthroned King of Israel. By 2 Samuel, David makes moves to unite the 12 tribes and to establish his throne as the king divinely appointed by God. David with God in mind captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it the official capital of Israel.

After he establishes Jerusalem, he moves the Ark of the Covenant there, which is God's holy throne. He moves it to the new capital of Israel. And 2 Samuel 6:17 says this, that David placed the Ark in a tent that he had pitched for it, that he pitched for the Ark of the Covenant. Now, our minds can automatically go to the tabernacle tent from the wilderness. Well, this tent would've been in Shiloh at that time. The tent that David constructed would've actually been a different tent.

It would've looked probably more like a pavilion. Old Testament scholar John Walton writes this, "Archeologists have found the remains of Midianite tent shrines at Timna that date to the 12th century BC. It too was made of curtains draped over poles. Portable structures of similar design are found in Egypt as early as the mid 3rd millennium, both in sacred and secular use." So King David was overjoyed to have the God of Israel in the capital of Israel. David's kingdom was thriving.

It was growing. It was unified. It was protected. It says in the beginning of 2 Samuel 7 that Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord, gave David relief or rest from all his enemies on all sides. Now, David gets quite introspective one evening in 2 Samuel 7 and he begins to talk to the prophet Nathan. And beginning in 2 Samuel 7:2, David says this to Nathan, "Look, I'm living in a palace made from cedar, while the Ark of God sits in the middle of a tent." Nathan replied to the king, "You should go and do whatever you have in mind for the Lord is with you."

That night the Lord's message came to Nathan, "Go tell my servant David, this is what the Lord has said. Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in? I have not lived in a house from the time I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day. Instead, I was traveling with them and living in a tent. Wherever I moved among the Israelites, I did not say to any of their leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel, 'Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?'"

Now, David's intentions were to honor God by building him a physical home. The shepherd king from the tribe of Judah who now rules over all of Israel had his heart in the right place. He moved the true king of Israel's throne to Jerusalem. Now, what sets David apart from all the other kings of Israel and Judah is his heart toward the Lord. King David recognized that God enthroned him as King of Israel, but that ultimately Yahweh is the true King of Israel. And really what it comes down to is that David understood and David knew his position.

He knew his rank. I'm personally convinced that what got King Saul removed from his kingship was that he forgot his rank. He considered his position above the God that put him there. He thought he was the King of Israel and nobody was above him. His heart was focused on his influence, his power, his authority. His focus was completely inward and selfish, and God removed him from the throne of Israel for that very reason. Look at David's son, Solomon. Let's fast-forward. I'll tell you, Solomon started his rule with the right frame of mind.

He knew his position. He asked God for wisdom from above, recognizing that Godly wisdom to rule doesn't come from within, but from the true King of Israel, Yahweh. It comes from above. Solomon was blessed for his decision to subject himself to God's rule. But over time, Solomon became kind of like Saul. His focus was centered on his own well-being, on his power, on his kingdom, on his wealth, on his rule. His heart was eventually led astray from his original desire to rule with wisdom from above.

I'm convinced this is the reason that God says that King David is a man after his own heart. Despite David's wicked sins, David made the conscious decision to realign himself under God's rule. Remember what David says in Psalm 51? Despite the fact that David sinned against many people, he looks to God and says, "Against you and you alone have I sinned." David admits that he thought for a moment as the King of Israel, he could abuse others for his own gain. But that's not the heart of God or God's law.

So instead of ignoring God for his own self-interest, David actually, think about this, he realigns himself under the true King of Israel, Yahweh. And for that reason, God calls him a man after his own heart. He has a broken and contrite heart. David's passion for the Lord and his passion for his law and his passion to worship God are evident, and that's why he wants the true King of Israel to sit on his rightful throne in Jerusalem.

What's amazing is that even geographically it's seen, if you ever look at the layout of Jerusalem, as archeologists continue to unearth Jerusalem from the days of Jesus and from even the days of the Davidic dynasty, what you see is that King David in Jerusalem would've been positioned lower in altitude than Yahweh's throne in the temple that he wants to build for him. Even King David, like other Israelites, would still need to walk up to the Temple Mount to worship the true King of Israel.

Why? Because David considered himself subject to God's rule and subject to God's reign. Now, when we come back, we're going to look at the actual covenant that God made with David. David's intentions are all pure, they're all good, but God's going to show David that he's got a plan mapped out that's more than just building a temple. It's a plan to bring salvation to all the families of the earth through his dynasty. So you'll want to stick around.

Steve Conover: Chris, when you think of a people group who have been repeatedly threatened and attacked by an enemy whose purpose is to destroy them, who comes to mind?

Chris Katulka: Steve, without a doubt, it's the people of Israel. For millennia, the Jewish people have fought for their lives and somehow never completely lost their strength to keep going.

Steve Conover: I agree, and this has to be why when October 7th happened, while it rightfully crushed the souls of every Jewish person, it didn't wipe out their strength completely and for good reason.

Chris Katulka: And this good reason is laid out actually within God's Word, and diving into that reason is why The Friends of Israel wants to spend the day with our listeners all throughout the United States for our popular one-day Prophecy Up Close Conferences where we're going to cover Israel's Resilience--The Struggle to Survive.

Steve Conover: Everyone is invited to go to foi.org/prophecy to find a one-day conference in their area and to learn more about what to expect. You can register for a day packed full of studying God's Word together with Bible teachers who are passionate about the people of Israel.

Chris Katulka: We encourage you to come to learn the history, the future, and the ongoing struggle today for Israel's survival and from where that underlying strength comes. To find a Prophecy Up Close Conference in your area, go to foi.org/prophecy. Again, that's foi.org/prophecy.

Chris Katulka: Welcome back, everyone. We are studying the promise that God made to King David, and all of it begins with David's pure intentions to build God a physical home or a house of the Lord. He wished to move God's throne out of a tent to put it into a temple. God fulfilled David's desire, but not the way David thought it would play out. See, God's plans can take our limited way of thinking and work them for the benefit of many and for his glory. Just listen to what God says to King David in 2 Samuel 7 starting in verse eight.

He says, "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 the leader of my people Israel. I was with you wherever you went, and 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 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. Your dynasty will be permanent. Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him."

Now, I love reading the New English translation of the Bible here in 2 Samuel chapter 7 because I think it translates the Hebrew words to fit the promise God is making to King David. God is making a promise to King David of a dynasty, a kingly dynasty, a Davidic dynasty that will not be broken. And God promises a few things here, which we're going to take a look at next week as well. But first, God promises David that one from his dynasty, a son, will establish his kingdom and build a temple.

That king is King Solomon, and he will go on to establish David's kingdom and build a house for the Lord, a temple. But God also promises that this one will have a permanent dynasty. God compares David to King Saul. He says, "Your kingdom will not be like Saul's which was removed from him, thus fracturing his dynasty. Instead, David, your name will be connected to Israel and to the Jewish people forever through your dynasty and ultimately your one son that will come in the future to establish your kingdom forever."

Now, you're going to have to come back next week so that we can look further and deeper into this Davidic dynasty because you're going to see how God's faithfulness to the promise maintains a Davidic king until the coming of the King of Kings.

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 collective 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: It is no secret that people fear death, but death cannot be avoided. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, "The dust will return to the earth as it was and the Spirit will return to God who gave it." God has given each of us an eternal spirit and all who believe in the Lord Jesus will live with him eternally. Recently, an elderly woman in my neighborhood died. Many of her neighbors, including me, gathered and spoke with one another. As we were talking, one of this woman's relatives said, "I am sorry she has died and has no children to take care of her in death. No one will remember her."

I was saddened by this man's remarks and said, "It is possible this poor lady will someday be richer than you." "How can that be?" He responded. I told him, "If she had a proper relationship with God through his son, she will be rich in eternity." I then related the account of the rich man and the beggar from Luke 16. The beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. Someone asked how I had come to this conclusion. I replied, it is written in the Bible.

King David did not fear what would happen to his body. Instead, he prayed, "Do not take your Holy Spirit from me." Psalm 23 was not written for the rich only, but for everyone who trusts in the Lord and will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The man asked, "Do you never think about what will happen to you when you die?" I answered, "My future is secure because I have received the Lord as my Savior and in him there is no death or darkness, only life and light." They did not understand what I meant.

I asked if they had ever read the Bible and the man replied, "It was impossible to read the Bible in Russia, and we cannot read Hebrew." I said, "But you've been in Israel for several years. Surely by now you know Hebrew." He replied, "Oh, yes, we can speak it, but we do not understand it well enough to read something as deep as the Bible." I took out my Bible and read in Hebrew John 14:19, "Because I live, you will live also," Job 19:25, "I know my redeemer lives and he shall stand at last on the earth," and Isaiah 26:19, "Your dead shall live. Together with my dead body, they shall arise."

I then translated these verses into Russian. They could not accept the concept of resurrection after death. Referring to the lady who had just died, the man said, "We've all seen her dead body. How can you say she will live again?" I said, "It is written in Ezekiel 18:4. The soul whose sin shall die, but the Lord has given us a free choice concerning our soul's destiny. If we ask him to forgive our sins, he will grant our request and assure us of eternal life with him. If we reject his love for us, we will die in our sins and spend eternity in the lake of fire."

When we parted, they were no longer hurling accusations, but were friendly and thanked me for spending time with them. I pray God will water the seed sown and eventually grant the harvest of these souls to eternal life.

Chris Katulka: The impact of Zvi's life and 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 for today's episode of The Friends of Israel Today. Chris, where are we headed next week?

Chris Katulka: Yeah, we're going to keep diving into 2 Samuel 7 to unpack more about this Davidic promise that God made to King David because really it's going to become bedrock to how we understand what God is doing with Israel, how he's working through the people of Israel ultimately to bring the Promised Messiah, the one who would permanently maintain God's kingdom forever, as it says in 2 Samuel 7. So looking forward to looking into that.

Steve Conover: We hope you join us then. 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.

Our web address is foiradio.org. Again, that's foiradio.org, or you can call our listener line at 888-343-6940. Again, that's 888-343-6940. The Friends of Israel Today is a production of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. We are a worldwide evangelical ministry proclaiming biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah, while bringing physical and spiritual comfort to the Jewish people.