David Setting Forth Christ in the Work of the Second Coming.

In this study we see David, who is God's rightful king of the Jews, anointed and set apart for his work according to God's direction. But David was rejected by the masses of the people and only a small remnant, those who were with him at the cave of Adullam, the faithful ones who were in distress and discontented with the leading of the usurper, Saul (a type of the antichrist) followed him. This remnant was typical of the Jewish remnant who shall stand boldly for Christ during the tribulation period; that remnant who shall stand against the antichrist and his host of followers as David's little band stood against Saul and his followers. And as David's remnant were forced to the mountains and wilderness of Ziph, so will the Jewish remnant be forced to the mountains and wilderness where God will carefully succor them for a period of forty-two months. David finally triumphed over his adversaries and the usurper went down in death and the remnant were established in the Land. So Christ will triumph over the antichrist and the Jewish remnant will be established in peace in the land which God promised them.

David was God's rightful king of the Jews, chosen by God and anointed by Samuel. God said to Samuel, "Go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons . . . . And the Lord said. Arise, anoint him (David): for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward" (I Sam. 16:1, 12, 13). Christ will be God's King of the Jews. He is the One prophesied in Isaiah 9:6, 7, who shall sit upon the "throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever." ''He shall be great , . . . and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever" (Luke 1:32).

But David was rejected by the masses of the people^ in order to follow a usurper. Saul was the one whom the multitude supported, while David's followers were the few faithful ones, those in distress, and the discontented. "David . . . escaped to the cave of Aullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. And everyone that was in distress, . . . and everyone that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men" (I Sam. 22:1, 2), a mere remnant who are typical of the Jewish remnant who shall stand for Christ during the tribulation period. Christ, too, is rejected by the masses of the people that they may follow a usurper, the antichrist. ''He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (Jno. i:ii). The ''Prince of this world" is succeeding in leading the masses to follow a delusion. 'The God of this age hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God's should shine unto them" (2 Cor. 4:4), and he shall continue to deceive until the "Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." "For that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (the antichrist); who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Thes. 2:3,4). He is the one whom the multitudes will seek, but the Jewish remnant will stand for the rightful King, the Son of God.

The remnant following the true king, David, who is typical of the Jewish remnant during the tribulation period, were forced into the mountains and wilderness in order to stand for him. Saul and the successive usurpers, Abner, Absalom, Adonijah, sought David's life and the destruction of his followers. Saul sent messengers to bring David to him that he might slay him (I Sam. 19:15), but David fled, and escaped. He hid in the cave of Adullam for a season with about four hundred men (I Sam. 22:1, 2); later, we see them "departed out of Keilah and went whithersoever they could go," and ''David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph" (I Sam. 23:i3, 14). Saul's death leaves the wicked work to fall to other hands, and Abner and other evil ones usurp the power for a time. But God carefully provided for them and delivered them out of the hands of their enemies. The Jewish remnant who will stand boldly for Christ during the tribulation time will be forced into the mountains and wilderness; and there will be cared for for forty-two months by God during the awful persecutions. ''There were sealed one hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel," the Jewish remnant (Rev. 7:4); and, in the 12th chapter of Revelation, the woman, which is Israel, "brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne. And the woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days" (vs. 5, 6), or forty-two months, during which time God will provide for them.

The true King, David, finally met with victory over all his enemies and the usurper went down in death. 'The men of Judah came to Hebron and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah'' (2 Sam. 2:4). "Then came all the tribes of Israel unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold we are thy bone and thy flesh . . , . and they anointed David king over Israel" (2 Sam. 1:4). Absalom tried to usurp the throne after this, but was slain; Adonijah usurped the kingdom in David's extreme age, but David anointed Solomon as his true successor and Adonijah fled to the horns of the altar, and was dismissed by Solomon (I Kings l). The usurpers are overcome and the kingdom established just before David's death. Christ, the true King, will meet with victory over his enemies and the usurper, the antichrist, who will set himself up as God in the temple of God (2 Thes. 2:4), ''shall the Lord consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thes. 2:8). And the nations are overcome by Him who is called "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth make war.... And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lord" (Rev. 19:11-16).

Solomon became the continuation of the Davidic type, and having taken up David's work he entered into a glorious reign of peace. David had Solomon anointed as King; and, after his death, Solomon ''sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly" (I Kings 2:12); ''And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon'' (IKings 4:25). His was a reign of peace. Christ will enter into a glorious reign of peace after the destruction of the antichrist, and "in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye (the twelve) also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their fore^ heads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4). Christ shall reign in peace and glory, for he/'shall come in great power and glory." "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."