Dialogues (Eranistes) · Part 6

Orth.--Those which the prophet inserted in the 88th Psalm.

Eran.--I know that many promises were made to David. Which are you enquiring about now?

Orth.--Those which refer to the Lord Christ.

Eran.--Recall the utterances yourself, for you promised to adduce your proofs.

Orth.--Listen now how the prophet praises God at the very beginning of the Psalm. He saw with his prophetic eyes the future iniquity of his people, and the captivity that was in consequence foredoomed; yet he praised his own Lord for unfailing promises. "I will sing," he says, "of the mercies of the Lord forever, with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations, for thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever, Thy faithfulness shalt Thou establish in the very heavens."

Through all this the prophet teaches that the promise was made by God on account of lovingkindness, and that the promise is faithful. Then he goes on to say what He promised, and to whom, introducing God Himself as the speaker. ("I have made a covenant with my chosen." ) It is the Patriarchs that He called chosen; then He goes on "I have sworn unto David my servant," and He states concerning what He swore, "Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations."

Now whom do you suppose to be called the seed of David?

Eran.--The promise was made about Solomon.

Orth.--Then he made his covenant with the Patriarchs about Solomon, for before what was said about David he mentioned the promises made to the Patriarchs "I have made a covenant with my chosen," and He promised the Patriarchs that in their seed He would bless all nations. Kindly point out how the nations were blessed through Solomon.

Eran.--Then God fulfilled this promise, not by means of Solomon, but of our Saviour.

Orth.--So then our Lord Christ gave the fulfilment to the promises made to David.

Eran.--I hold that these promises were made by God, either about Solomon, or about Zerubbabel.

Orth.--Just now you used the arguments of Marcion and Valentinus and of Manes. Now you have gone over to the directly opposite faction, and are advocating the impudence of the Jews. This is just like all those who turn out of a straight road; they err and stray first one way and then another, wandering in a wilderness.

Eran.--Revilers are excluded by the Apostle from the kingdom.

Orth.--Yes, if their revilings are vain. Sometimes the divine Apostle himself opportunely uses this mode of speech. He calls the Galatians "foolish," and of others he says "men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith," and again of another set, "Whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame," and so forth.

Eran.--What occasion did I give you for reviling?

Orth.--Do you really not think that the willing advocacy of the declared enemies of the truth furnishes the pious with very reasonable ground of indignation?

Eran.--And what enemies of the truth have I patronized?

Orth.--Now, Jews.

Eran.--How so?

Orth.--Jews connect prophecies of this kind with Solomon and Zerubbabel, in order to exhibit the groundlessness of the Christian position; but the mere words are quite enough to convict them of their iniquity, for it is written "I will establish my throne for ever." Now not only Solomon and Zerubbabel, to whom such prophecies are applied by the Jews, have lived out their appointed time, and reached the end of life, but the whole race of David has become extinct; for who ever heard of any one at the present day descended from the root of David?

Eran.--But are not, then, those who are called Patriarchs of the Jews of the family of David?

Orth.--Certainly not.

Eran.--Whence, then, are they sprung?

Orth.--From the foreigner Herod, who, on his father's side, was an Ascalonite, and on his mother's an Idumæan; but they, too, have all disappeared, and many years have gone by since their sovereignty came to an end. But our Lord God promised not only to maintain the seed of David for ever, but to establish his kingdom undestroyed; for He said, "I will build up my throne to all generations."

But we see that his race is gone, and his kingdom come to an end. Yet though we see this, we know that the God of the Universe is true.

Eran.--That God is true is plain.

Orth.--If, then, God is true, as in truth He is, and promised David that He would establish His race for ever, and keep his kingdom through all time, and if neither race nor kingdom are to be seen, for both have come to an end, how can we convince our opponents that God is true?

Eran.--I suppose, then, the prophecy really points to the Lord Christ.

Orth.--If, then, you confess this, let us investigate together a passage in the middle of the Psalm; we shall then more clearly see what the prophecy means.

Eran.--Lead on; I will religiously follow in your footsteps.

Orth.--After making many promises about this seed that it should be Lord both by sea and land and higher than the kings of the earth and be called the first begotten of God, and should boldly call God, Father God also added this, "My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the days of heaven."

Eran.--The promise goes beyond the bounds of human nature, for both the life and the honour are indestructible and eternal. But men endure but for a season; their nature is short lived and their kingdom even during its lifetime undergoes many and various vicissitudes, so that truly the greatness of the prophecy befits none but the Saviour Christ.

Orth.--Go on then to what follows and your opinion upon this point will be in every way confirmed, for again saith the God of the universe, "Once have I sworn by my holiness, if I lie unto David, his seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon."

Then, pointing out the truth of the promise He adds, "And the witness is faithful in heaven."

Eran.--We must believe without doubt in the promises given by the faithful witness, for, if we are wont to believe men who have promised to speak the truth even if they do not confirm their words with an oath, who can be so mad as to disbelieve the Creator of the Universe, when He adds an oath to his words? For He who forbids others to swear confirmed the immutability of his counsel by an oath, "that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us."

Orth.--If then the promise is irrefragable, and among the Jews there is now neither family nor kingdom of the prophet David to be seen, let us believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is plainly called seed of David in His humanity, for of Him the life and the kingdom are both alike eternal.

Eran.--We have no doubt; and this I own to be the truth.

Orth.--These proofs then are sufficient to show clearly the manhood which our Lord and Saviour took of David's seed. But to remove all possibility of doubt by the witness of the majority, let us hear how God makes mention of the promises given to David through the voice of the prophet Isaiah. "I will make," he says, "an everlasting covenant with you," and, signifying the law-giver, he adds, "even the sure mercies of David."

Since He made this promise to David, and spoke through Esaias, He will assuredly bring the promise to pass. And what follows after the prophecy is in harmony with what I say, for he saith "Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold nations that know thee not shall call upon thee, and peoples that understand thee not shall run unto thee." Now this fits in with none that are sprung from David, for who of David's descendants, as Esaias says, was made a ruler of nations? And what nations in their prayers ever called on David's descendants as God?