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<noinclude><pagequality level="1" user="" /></noinclude>SEPTEMBER

15, 1949

3"fieWATCHTOWER

rebuild the temple and Jerusalem, the honse of Judah
never again had a human king reigning on the
"throne of Jehovah" on Mount Zion at Jerusalem.
Today the site of ancient Jerusalem is being internationalized. Also the modern republic of Israel has
a non-Theocratic president, and not a king of David's
line or of the tribe of Judah. What then' Has Jehovah's covenant failed THas he proved undependableT
By no means! But the active operation of the covenant was held in suspension until the fulfillment of
the covenant in its Permanent Heir. This is shown
in these words to King Zedekiah: "Thus saith the
Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre, and take off the
crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that
which is low, and abase that which is high. I will
overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be
no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will
give it him."-Ezek. 21: 26, 27, Am. Stan. Ver.
10 Who is the one whose right it is to rule as the
Son of David and as Permanent Heir of the. divine
covenant? When did he comeT Has Jehovah given
him the crown, the scepter, and the throne to rule
with them in an active way? In view now of the perilous situation in the world the answers to these questions become urgent. The covenant's terms help us
to determine who he is. So they guide us in deciding
whom to accept as world ruler at this critical time.
First of all, this important One must be the seed or
offspring of David according to flesh relationship.
He must also be the Son of God, for in the covenant
Jehovah said: "I will be his father, and he shall be
my son." Besides that, since the covenant said, "He
shall build a house for my name," this One must build
a temple for the name of Jehovah. This temple-building work is an essential part of the Kingdom covenant. David was not like Melchizedek in being a kingpriest. Hence the covenant with David did not include
a priesthood. Nevertheless the Kingdom Heir was
promised to be interested in Jehovah's worship and
to build a glorious temple for His name, promoting
the only true worship. So all these features we look
for in the great Kingdom Heir to identify him. In
this we are not left to our weak faculties, but God
makes the identification appear plainly.
11 We remember that, after King Saul had proved
unfaithful and God sent his prophet Samuel to anoint
one of the eight sons of Jesse of Bethlehem to be king
instead of Saul, Jehovah pointed out David and said
to Samuel: "Arise, anoint him: for this is he." So
Samuel anointed the shepherd boy David with the
special anointing oil to be Jehovah's king. (1 Sam.
16: 12, 13) Immediately Jehovah's spirit came upon
David, giving him a double identification from his
God. The same is true in connection with David's
~ must the covenant's Permanent Heir be and do?
11, 12. (a) In what sense was the Heir the 'son of God'? (b) As In
DaVid's case. with what must the Heir be Identltled?

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permanent Heir, the promised Son of God who
should be the King and the Builder of a most glorious
temple for Jehovah's name. The great invisible God
first gave him identification by means of angels. That
this Son of David might be the Son of God in the
highest sense, Jehovah chose his firstborn Son, "the
firstborn of all creation," to lay aside his heavenly
spiritual glory and take np life on earth as a perfect
man of flesh and blood. His birth on earth must therefore be through a virgin. Not just any virgin in
Israel, nor just any virgin of the tribe of Judah.
No, but the covenant with David required that this
J emsh virgin be of the royal descent from him.
That is what the virgin J ewess named Mary was.
12 Before the Kingdom Heir from heaven was conceived in Mary's womb Jehovah sent his angel Gabriel
to obtain her consent and to say to her: "Thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and
shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord
God shall give unto him the throne of his father
David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob
for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
... The holy spirit shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Most High shall overshadow thee:
wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall
be called the Son of God." When this Jesus was born
at David's native town of Bethlehem, Jehovah's
angel appeared to the shepherds in the fields outside
and identified the Kingdom Heir, saying: "Behold,
I qring yon good tidings of great joy which shall be
to all the people: for there is born to you this day
in the city of David a Saviour, who is [or, is to be]
Christ the Lord." (Luke 1: 31-33, 35 and 2: 10, 11,
Am. Stan. Ver.) The Greek word Christ translates
the Hebrew word Messiah and meims anointed one
or sanctified one. This newborn babe was to develop
into the promised Messiah whom God sanctified
for the Kingdom. This was the culmination of the
"mercies of David" or "lovingkindness to David",
that Messiah should be born of his lineage!
IDENTIFICATION OF THE MESSIAH

Of course, when Jesus was born he was not then
the Messiah, for he was not yet anointed of God, no
more so than David was anointed at his birth in
Bethlehem. David's permanent heir to the Kingdom
covenant must receive this special anointing from
God to become the everlasting King. There were
doubtless many male descendants of King David
through his son Solomon or through his other son
Nathan. But the particular descendant to be the
Messiah and Heir of the covenant must be anointed
by Jehovah, who established this covenant. Now
Joseph, the Judean betrothed to Mary, was of the
18

l.'l. By earthly parentage what right did Jesus have to heirship?

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