THE   DAVIDIC    KINGDOM  25

existed  from  the  earliest  times  along  with  the  Nazirites
(Amos  ii.  11),  but  who  acquired  an  influence  in  the  State
at  this  period,  first  as  counsellors  and  seers  of  the  early
kings  (Nathan,  Gad,  2  Sam.  xii.  1,  xxiv.  11),  and  ulti-
mately as  an  independent  order  who  took  the  religious
destinies  of  the  nation  into  their  own  hands,  and  in  whose
writings,  the  Prophetical  Scriptures,  we  have  the  fullest
exposition  of  that  lofty  spiritual  religion  in  Israel  to  which
the  New  Testament  directly  attaches  itself.  Secondly,  the
elevation  of  the  Davidic  dynasty  to  the  throne.  The
brilliant  reign  of  David,  whose  arms  extended  the  limits  of
the  Jewish  State  till  for  those  days  it  might  justly  be
named  an  empire,  became  the  ideal  of  after  ages ;  and
when,  amidst  disaster  and  religious  decline,  men  looked
back  to  it  and  transfigured  it  in  the  light  of  the  religious
hopes  which  filled  their  minds,  it  became  the  type  both  of
a  future  king  and  a  future  universal  kingdom  of  God  that
would  arise  upon  the  earth  in  the  latter  days.  These
special  predictions  of  the  perfection  of  the  kingdom  of  the
Lord,  named  Messianic  prophecies,  all  borrow  their  form  and
colours  from  this  powerful  reign.  And,  thirdly,  the  choice
of  Jerusalem  as  the  centre  both  of  the  national  and  the
religious  life  of  the  people.  The  influence  of  the  Temple  of
Solomon,  both  in  purifying  and  in  elevating  the  ritual  wor-
ship, as  well  as  in  leading  ultimately  to  its  concentration  at
one  shrine,  cannot  be  overestimated.  But  the  step  taken  by
David  gave  a  colour  to  all  succeeding  literature.  Patriot-
ism and  religion  were  once  more  wedded  together.  Jeru-
salem was  not  only  the  perfection  of  beauty,  the  joy  of  the
whole  earth  (Ps.  xlviii.  2),  it  was  also  the  *  hearth  '  of
Jehovah,  who  dwelt  in  Zion  at  Jerusalem  (Isa.  xxix.  1).
