He shall build me an house,
and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be
my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him
that was before thee: But I will settle him in mine house and in my
kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore (I Chron.
17:12-14).
ARGUMENT:
“In I Chronicles 17:13, God
says ‘… and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that
was before thee’ (cf. II Sam. 7:15). Does this not teach common grace? God
seems to be saying that reprobate Saul was once an object of divine ‘mercy.’”
(I)
Prof.
David J. Engelsma
On a superficial reading, it would seem that [I
Chronicles 17:13] states that God once had mercy on Saul but later removed
it from him and, therefore, there is common grace.
But notice that, if the text actually teaches that
God once had mercy on Saul but later removed it from him, it is not teaching a
common grace of God for the wicked but it is stating that Jehovah’s deep, rich
mercy, His steadfast covenant love (hesed), is not only for King David
and his son, Jesus Christ, but also for the wicked and reprobate Saul. The
mercy of [I Chronicles 17:13] is the mercy God has for David, Solomon
and Christ Jesus. The “him” in the text is Solomon as the type and Jesus as the
reality, for both are sons of God (in different senses) and God is their Father
(in different senses, as per John 20:17), according to [I Chronicles
17:13].
Thus, however the text is explained, it has nothing
to do with common grace and is no proof of common grace. The grace of God
towards Solomon and Christ is not a common grace by anyone’s reckoning!
If [I Chronicles 17:13] teaches that God
takes His grace away from someone to whom that grace was truly given, it teaches
that one can lose particular, saving grace. Then the
Arminians are right and we lose the biblical truth of the preservation and
perseverance of the saints, which is taught in the Reformed creeds and precious
to God’s people (Canons of Dordt V:15)!
The correct explanation of the text begins with
noticing that the word “it” in the King James Version (KJV) or Authorised
Version (AV) is not in the original Hebrew text. Thus the word “it” appears in
italics in the KJV/AV.
[I Chronicles 17:13] actually reads, “I will not take my mercy away
from him, as I took from him that was before thee,” etc. What God took away from Saul was not
mercy but the kingship of Israel. God will not take mercy away
from Solomon and Jesus Christ, as He took the kingship away
from Saul.
God does not take His steadfast love away from
anyone upon whom it has once been bestowed (John 10:28-29; Phil. 1:6). The
text explicitly teaches this. God’s mercy shall never be taken from Christ, the
reality of King Solomon. Since all the elect are in Christ and are represented
by Him, God will never take His mercy away from any one of those who are in
Christ and belong to Him. To take grace away from one of the elect would be the
same as to take it away from Christ Himself!
But Jehovah does take away positions of honour and
authority in the kingdom from wicked men who misuse their positions, for
example, the office of minister or elder or deacon and the position of member
of a true church. This is a warning to us all!
In short, instead of teaching common grace, the
passage is a beautiful prophecy of Solomon and Christ whom he typifies and His
everlasting kingdom and temple; an unshakable promise that we will never lose
God’s mercy because Christ our head never will; and a calling to be faithful in
our offices in the church.
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(II)
Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965)
[Source: The
Standard Bearer, vol. 12, no. 11 (March 1, 1936), p. 263]
1.
The question asks us to face this argument: Saul was a wicked, reprobate man;
he was the object of God’s mercy; ergo, there is common grace. With this we
cannot agree because the Scriptures teach that God hates the wicked and is
angry with them every day (e.g., Ps. 5:4-6; 7:11; 11:5-6; Rom. 9:13; etc.). Moreover, Jehovah’s mercy is not merely
temporal, like earthly human mercy, stopping after a few years, for this is the
psalmist’s praise: “thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever” (Ps. 138:8), since “his mercy is everlasting” (Ps. 100:5). A massive twenty-six times, we read in Psalm 136:1-26 that “his mercy endureth for ever.” These
words of worship are repeated in eight more places in God’s inspired Word: “his
mercy endureth for ever” (I Chron. 16:34, 41; II
Chron. 5:13; 7:3; 20:21; Ps. 106:1; 107:1; 118:1).
2.
The central issues are: What is that mercy of which the text speaks? Does it
mean that God had been merciful to Saul personally and that He had withdrawn His mercy from him personally? Or is it dealing with something else?
3.
Let us consider the question first from a biblical perspective.
(a) David
wanted to build a house (bayit) for Jehovah to dwell in,
namely, a temple (cf. II Sam. 7:2), as the Lord well knew (vv. 5,
6, 7). But God’s Word to David through the prophet Nathan is that He will build
a house (bayit) for David, that is, a royal dynasty (vv. 11, 16).
Jehovah would continue (v. 29) and establish (vv. 12, 13, 16, 26) the kingdom
of David’s seed (v. 12), which comes out of his loins (v. 12), “for a great
while to come” (v. 19), even “for ever” (vv. 16, 25). For this promised house (bayit) or dynasty, David thanks the Lord (vv. 19, 25, 26,
27, 29). Thus the key to the texts referred to in the question is that they,
and the chapters in which they are found (II Samuel 7 and I Chronicles 17),
deal with the generations of the royal house (bayit) or dynasty.
(b) On
the other hand, even before David ascended the throne, Saul knew that he would
have no dynasty (I
Sam. 20:31; 23:17), since God had told him this through the prophet
Samuel (I
Sam. 13:13-14; 15:28).
4.
Let us address the issue from a more theological perspective. If we study the
texts in II Samuel 7 and I Chronicles 17, we will find the following
elements (compare also Psalm 89, that refers to this same mercy):
(a) II Samuel 7:15 and I Chronicles 17:13 refer to the “mercy” of God’s everlasting covenant with David and
his seed, centrally Christ, as the Servant of Jehovah. “I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have
given him [i.e., the promised Messiah] for a witness to the people, a leader
and commander to the people” (Isa. 55:3-4). It is the covenant that
David’s throne shall be forever, and of his seed One shall sit upon the throne
of Jacob unto all eternity (Luke 1:32-33).
(b)
This “mercy” is with David’s seed from generation to generation until it
culminates in Christ, in whom the promise shall be fulfilled. The passage
in II
Samuel 7:12-15 [and I Chronicles 17:11-13],
therefore, does not refer to Solomon alone but to the generations to come. A
comparison with Psalm 89 makes this very evident. It is a mercy that
concerns David’s house or dynasty.
(c)
In the same sense it must be understood when the text tells us that God had
taken something away from Saul. It refers to the throne on which Saul’s
generations would not sit. Historically, the kingdom, the theocratic kingdom,
that was to culminate in the Messiah had first been established with Saul. But
God had taken the kingdom away from Saul’s generations and transferred it to
the generations of David. This is in harmony with the everlasting covenant of
the Triune God.
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(III)
More to come! (DV)
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