A literal return of King David is a tenant of much of the modern religious thought today. Purveyors of premillennial doctrine, such as David Jeremiah, teach that King David will return in the flesh to rule alongside Jesus during the thousand year reign on earth. The prophets have much to say about David’s reign. However, there is one verse in particular that gets held up as the proof-text for King David’s return. Jeremiah, a prophet that lived about 500 years after David, had this to say in Jeremiah 30:8-9:1
And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
This certainly seems to indicate that King David will return to reign again in the flesh. But this is not the only passage we have to consider on this topic. So, will King David return in the flesh to reign again?
How Scripture answers "Will King David return to reign again?"
The notion (from one verse1) that King David will return in the flesh is immediately2 and repeatedly3 defeated in the early days of the church. David’s body had “seen corruption”2,3. Jesus had risen without seeing bodily corruption2,3 and it was Jesus that fulfilled the promise originally given to David4 by God. This was repeatedly recalled by the prophets1,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 until “the last days.”
All of this requires the Bible student to consider the single phrase in Jeremiah 301 through a different lens. When considered with other statements from Jeremiah4,5 about David’s return, it’s clear that Jeremiah isn’t meaning a literal reincarnation of David in chapter 301. And if the additional prophets’ statements4,5,6,7,9,10 and inspired, New Testament writers’2,3,4,7,10,11 confirmations weren’t enough (and they are), we have the similar instance of Elijah12. In this case, the prophet Malachi said that Elijah would be raised, but multiple New Testament passages confirm this was not meant as a bodily raising of Elijah. Just like John the Baptist was to Elijah12, Jesus was to David – “a man after my [God’s] heart, who will do all my will.” (Acts 13:22)
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