In my passage about the end times oppression and captivity of God’s people, I referred to Ezekiel 34, which describes how God will ultimately bring his people back into their land, set up his kingdom and will be their Lord. This will be Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who will reign here on earth during the heavenly Millennial Kingdom. That’s is real big news, and no-doubt the greatest news we could ever hope for as believers- “Thy Kingdom come!”
A Millennial Kingdom Prince, ‘David’
There is an interesting, lesser-known, seldom-discussed addition to the temple area during the Millennial Kingdom. In addition to Levite priests, ministers, and others, such as our beloved Apostles who we are told will reign over the 12 tribes, Jesus will have a servant, ‘David,’ who will be a “Prince among them” (Ez 34:24). In fact, he will be their prince forever (Ez 37:25). ‘David’s name here comes from the fact that he will be from the Jewish bloodline of the tribe of Judah, and specifically, from King David’s line. The Millennial King ‘David’ will function as an earthly prince while directly serving and worshiping Jesus Christ; and thus, he will be the shepherd who will tend to the flock of regathered ‘Israel.’ We are told:
- “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.” (Mic. 5:4)
A Millennial Kingdom Davidic Prince is a fulfillment of God’s covenant to “establish David’s line forever” on the throne. This King David-figure who scripture refers to raises questions about who he is, where he comes from, etc. And if we agree that we are living in the last days, we might rightly ask the question as to whether he could be living among us today, just as we wonder whether any other last days biblical characters could be. You will note that I have/will show(n) on this site that many or all of these biblical characters will live in our last days but then progress into the Millennial Kingdom, albeit with a possible supernatural escape provided by God in-between.
King David’s Own Writing- Prophetic Psalms
Since I just completed the last passage about King David’s war with the Anti-Christ Chaldeans, it seems fitting that I might examine some more of his prophetic Psalms for some clues about an end times ‘David.’ In these, it is extraordinary that he writes as if he expects an end times servant of his own inheritance to face a similar battle and to suffer distress and anguish on the same scale that he did. Could it be, that David’s personal war against the Anti-Christ Chaldean army that I just described in my last passage repeats with an end times ‘David’ figure?
(Note: Overall, some prophetic scripture in King David’s Psalms may apply only to Jesus’ first coming on earth. Other scripture of his describes an end-times servant like the ‘David’ who we are addressing in this passage. Additional scriptures could be a “picture” or represent a double fulfillment of prophetic events as experienced by King David himself. Taken altogether, many of David’s Psalms are at least in part prophetic, and apply to our current last days time period.)
The prophetic scriptures below set the stage for ‘David’s battle here in the end times:
- “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.” (Ps. 2:1)
- “O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations…the taunts with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.” (Ps. 89:49-51)
- “Can a corrupt throne be allied with you- one that brings on misery by its decrees? They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.” (Ps 94:21-22)
Additional scriptures below record how King David remarkably appears to pray for the Lord’s deliverance of and the eventual victory of his end times ‘David’ servant:
- “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock…then my head will be exalted above the enemies around me; at the tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy…” (Ps. 27:5-6)
- “Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes. At the time of your appearing you will make them like a fiery furnace. In his wrath the Lord will swallow them up, and his fire will consume them.” (Ps 21:8)
- “May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion…We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God…” (Ps. 20:1-2, 5)
- “In the day of my trouble I will call to you and you will answer me…no deeds can compare to yours…All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.” (Ps. 86:7-9)
In these scriptures, there is a clear message of end times deliverance. You will also likely notice how some attributes or aspects of our end times “servant” ‘David’ appear to be consistent with our end times ‘Jacob’ figure (discussed in an earlier passage). I will address the overcomer attribute, in particular, below.
Meanwhile, of course, it is worth re-emphasizing that this end times servant’s ability to overcome and win the war waged against him by the anti-Christ Chaldeans is owed entirely to the Lord’s sovereignty and grace. To conclude this section, the following prophetic scripture gives praise to the Lord about the last days victory that an end-times ‘David’ figure achieves:
- “All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them off. They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them off. They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns…I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” (Ps. 118:10-14)
Zerubbabel, and a picture of an end-times ‘David’ figure who overcomes
Zerubbabel, a descendent of King David, served as the Governor of Israel after he was highly instrumental in leading Israel’s exodus back to Judah/Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. He was then joined by a “remnant of the people” when he led the temple and altar re-building effort, which God ordered through Haggai the prophet and Joshua the high priest.
We learn from the prophet Haggai that the second temple was built during a time of a drought and unproductive harvest among the newly exiled people, when God (through Haggai) described his people as a stripped and unproductive vine, fig tree, olive tree, and pomegranate. In Haggai, we also learn that there was a hostile environment towards the temple-building process among surrounding nations and peoples. So, in his orders, God had encouraged Haggai and his contemporaries Zerubbabel and Zechariah to “be strong” in rebuilding the temple, and told them, “do not fear.”
In thinking about this scenario as a potential end times “picture,” keep in mind that the temple that the Anti-Christ defiles in the Tribulation period will be destroyed. And then it will be the temple of Jesus Christ that will need to be instilled, both spiritually and literally. Altogether, Jewish people will be persecuted at the time, on the run, and will be a spiritually barren vine. It will be evident to them that the ‘Messiah’ whom they chose is not who they thought, and then they will seek their true Messiah.
It will be a last days Davidic-line, ‘Zerubbabel’ figure who eventually, again, “lays the foundation.” In then being blessed with an unimaginable honor, he will introduce the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, in effect completing the “spiritual temple,” along with the physical Millennial temple. In the book of Zechariah, the prophetic word of the angel of the Lord was:
- “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple: his hands will also complete it…” (Zech. 4:9). (Of course, the temple was completed not too long thereafter in Zerubbabel’s day, but this prophecy likely has a double fulfillment for our end times ‘David’ figure).
- “…(Zerubbabel) will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!'” (Zech. 4:7)
In return for our end-times ‘Zerubbabel’s (i.e. ‘David’s) work in faith and righteousness in bringing his people back to their homeplace and to Jesus Christ, their Messiah, God prophetically instructs Haggai to tell his “servant” ‘Zerubbabel,’ “On that day, I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you.” (A signet ring is equivalent to a signature for a king). This is very likely a picture of our end-times Davidic Prince figure receiving his seat in the Kingdom.
This culminating event will be an answer to God’s people’s and vineyard’s prayers for restoration in the last days, who ask, “Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself” (Ps. 80:17).
The Zerubbabel picture of a Davidic-line figure overcomer
I have at least briefly discussed end times ‘Babylon’ in a prior passage- a land from which God’s people and remnant will exodus. In addition, we have some clues that there will be an end times servant who will be somewhat of an overcomer and redeemer, especially for the lost sheep remnant, as well as a light for the Gentiles. Could our end times Davidic-line, servant-leader (‘Zerubbabel’) be the one who again leads an exodus from ‘Babylon’ and the anti-Christ Chaldean army in the last days? A couple possible clues in the book of Zechariah would indicate that ‘Zerubbabel’ (i.e. ‘David’) at least fits the overcomer attribute, as demonstrated by what the angel of the Lord says to Zechariah:
- “What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.” (Zech. 4:7)
- “Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” (Zech. 4:10)
In the first scripture above, the term “mountain” may refer to last days Chaldean powers, also refeerred to by God as a “destroying mountain” (Jer. 51:25) that are eventually defeated.
Jesus’ words about an overcomer
It appears entirely plausible that the last days Davidic figure could be the overcomer that Jesus is referring to in the book of Revelation. To be fair, we also rhetorically asked in a prior passage whether our end times ‘Jacob’ figure could be an “overcomer,” which he could. (And while we are considering the interrelated-ness of our end times characters, it initially appears that we can’t rule out our end times ‘Jacob’ from being one-and-the-same with end times ‘David.’ This would need additional analysis beyond the scope of this current passage, however).
When speaking of “he who overcomes” to the various churches in the book of Revelation, Jesus offers the following insights. In just a few selected examples below of the Millennial Kingdom duties of “he who overcomes,” it certainly appears that our end times King ‘David’ is a highly likely candidate. Jesus Christ says:
- “I will give (him) authority to rule over the nations.” (to the Church in Thyatira, Rev 2:26)
- “I will make (him) a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it.” (to the Church in Philadelphia, Rev 3:11)
- “I will give (him) the right to sit with me on my throne.” (to the Church in Laodicea, Rev 3:21)
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Based on the scriptural insight discussed in this passage, I believe end times ‘David’ to be a figure who lives among us, likely currently, given the last days in which we live. I will address our last days ‘David’ once again in more detail in my upcoming passage.
Grace and Peace,
Lion’s Lair (LL)
Lion's Lair 