Remember God promised David an eternal seed, an eternal throne, and an eternal kingdom? His seed would rule over the kingdom forever. Because of Israel's rebellion, the kingdom was taken away from them. Again, what about God's promise to David? Once again, I ask: "Will God's promise NOT come to pass?
Jeremiah 23:5-6 5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.NAS Ezekiel 21:27 A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I shall make it. This also will be no more, until He comes whose right it is; and I shall give it to Him.
So, the one to come (future) spoken of here is the rightful ruler, and God will give the kingdom to him. Remember Genesis 3:15? The hope of a coming messiah was anticipated. The prophets all spoke of the one to come. And we saw that this ruler, the king of Israel, would be called God's son, His anointed, His messiah, His Christ.
Isaiah 9:6-7 6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.DRB Isaiah 9:6-7 6For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. 7Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
We see here that this child will rule in the world to come.
NLT Isaiah 9:7 His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the LORD Almighty will guarantee this!
Let's look at some of the prophecies regarding this coming kingdom and its king.
NAB Amos 9:14-15 14I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. 15I will plant them upon their own ground; never again shall they be plucked. From the land I have given them, say I, the LORD, your God.Micah 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.Daniel 7:13-14 13I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
The word kingdom in the Septuagint is the wordbasileia. Basileia means: "a kingdom, i.e., the territory subject to the rule of a king:
This word is very interesting in light of the kingdom of God. Daniel saw a kingdom in the future concerning Israel. So, there will be a coming kingdom where the son of man shall rule here upon the earth.
NAS Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.Daniel 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
So, in the next (sixth) administration, God will at one point set up a kingdom here on earth. The one who will reign as the king in God's Kingdom is referred to as the son of man in Daniel 7:13.
The greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the most High (Daniel 7:27 ... We are some of those people.).
Israel was invaded by the Babylonians, who took them captive to Babylon (see II Kings 25). They remained in Babylon for 70 years, after which some returned to Israel under the leadership of Era and Nehemiah. They never again had their own king; the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans ruled them. Jesus was born during the period of Roman rule.
The great worldwide dispersion of Jews from Jerusalem and Palestine began in 70 A.D. and was completed in 135 A.D. Around 70 A.D., forty years after Jesus was crucified, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, under the leadership of Titus.
Each year they dreamed of returning to the land, which God had promised Abraham and his seed. At each Passover Feast, they would say, "Next year in Jerusalem! Next year in Jerusalem!"
For twenty centuries, however, that "next year" did not come. They continued to be scattered over the earth while the Promised Land was being ruled by the Romans, the Moslems, and the Turks.
What happened to the promises to Abraham? He never received the inheritance. He even had to buy a piece of land to bury his wife. Will God's Will not come to pass? Will it return void? Will God's promise to David fail, and to his seed after him?
Jeremiah 33:19-26 19And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have, a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.23Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no, more a nation before them. 25Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.NLT Jeremiah 33:26 I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David's descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them.
So, we see once again, that God promises that he will never abandon his people. he promised to restore them to their land and have mercy on them.
This has always been the hope of God's people.
Many years later, in a little town called Bethlehem…
Luke 1:26-33 26And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.Matthew 2:1-2 1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
In our next issue, we will clearly see from the scriptures that Jesus Christ, the son of God, was this long awaited King of the Jews and rightful ruler to the Kingdom of God.
To be continued …ÿ