1 Samuel 16
[12] So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His kingdom for the sake of His people Israel. (2 Samuel 5:12).
Israel experienced peace and prosperity under David which they have not at any other time in their history. The reason is because Lord God of hosts was with him.
God later established a covenant with David, promising that another King would come from his lineage and establish His eternal kingdom over the entire earth with the new Jerusalem. Interestingly, this King would also come from Bethlehem of Judah. He will reign with an iron scepter of righteousness and justice, and peace will preside over the earth like there has never been before because God will be with Him.
In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel invited the elders and Jesse and his family to make sacrifices with him. When he saw Jesse's son Eliab, he thought, "Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord", but the Lord said, "Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The Lord has not chosen any of these. Are these all the sons you have?". So Jesse brought his youngest son David from tending the sheep, and when he came the Lord said, "Rise and anoint him for he is the one." So Samuel took the horn of the oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
God anointed David as king, but he did not actually become king until fifteen years later. This may have been so that God could both prepare him and test his faithfulness to rule over His kingdom of people as we see He did with Joseph:
[19] Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. (Psalms 105:19 NLT).
Like David, Jesus also was anointed King, but did not assume His role as King over God's kingdom until years later when He took His seat next to God in heaven. God prepared Him and tested Him for several years before making Himself known and beginning the work of establishing His Kingdom. He first had to prove Himself faithful by being tested by God. God tested Him by sending into the wilderness where Satan tempted Him to see if He would overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Jesus passed this test by denying Satan's temptations, however, the testing was not complete.
After encountering Satan in the wilderness, He was tested constantly by the Jews who threatened His life as He called them to repent and believe in Him, and as He attempted to teach them about truly following YHWH. This was going on at the same time that He was discipling twelve men whom God had chosen to carry on the mission of establishing His Kingdom after He died for the forgiveness of sins and left to go be with the Father.
It was also going on at the same time that He was destroying the works of the devil by casting out demons, healing, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus actually told the Jewish leaders who opposed Him that they were doing the work of their father, the devil, and He was undoing their works by doing the work of His Father, YHWH.
His mission was difficult to say the least. Would He accomplish everything that God had sent Him to do while facing so much opposition? It would have been easy for Him to turn back and give up because it was too hard. The devil was throwing everything at Him that he could to get Him to stop doing what He was doing. He had free reign up until now. Then suddenly this guy shows up and begins undoing everything he has done, limiting his power and authority over the people, binding him so that he no longer has free reign.
Satan was also working from the inside to destroy the work that Jesus was doing. One of His disciples had fallen away and made a deal with the devil to turn Jesus over to them. God had chosen Judas to be one of the twelve men who would continue the work that Jesus started, but somewhere along the way his faith must have begun to falter, so Satan seized the opportunity to destroy Jesus and His work. This was no doubt another obstacle that Jesus had to endure in the work that God had sent Him to do; another of God's tests to ensure that He was able to be the King of God's people.
His final test was whether or not He would follow through with being mocked, tortured, and murdered so that men could be reconciled back to God. It was extremely important for Jesus to follow through with this, otherwise, all the other work He was doing would not mean anything, and God's plan would not come to fruition, at least not through Him. He would sacrifice His own life as an atonement for man's. His death would allow God to forgive man's sins so that they could be with Him and He could be with them. His blood that He shed when He died would be the seal of the new covenant which God made with those who believe in His Son, Jesus the King. Fortunately for mankind, Jesus passed the tests that God had given Him by finishing the work that He sent Him to do (John 17:4; John 19:30), showing Himself faithful to be the King of God's eternal kingdom.
Unlike David and Jesus, Saul was not tested before being made king of Israel, and he failed and was rejected by God and ejected as king of God's people. He was replaced by David whom God anointed as king. But prior to David taking control of Israel, Saul remained as king until his death fifteen years later. Then, even after that, it was another seven years before David took control of all of Israel. During this time, David was king of Judah and Saul was king of Israel. There was continual war between the two, and though David began with a small following, his house grew stronger and stronger, while Saul's grew weaker and weaker.
Jesus is the anointed King who currently sits enthroned over His kingdom from heaven. However, like Saul, Satan still rules as king on the earth, while Jesus waits for God to send Him to conquer Satan and take His throne on the earth. Like David and Saul, there is continual war between Jesus and Satan, and though Jesus's kingdom began small, it continues to grow stronger and stronger, while Satan's grows weaker and weaker. And similar to David, when Jesus returns, He will take control of all of the earth, setting up His eternal kingdom throughout, and reigning as King over all of His creation.
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