Old Testament Prophecies, Part 12

by Nicholas A. Catania

August 2006

Go to the previous issue.

In our last issue, we saw that Jesus has the right to rule this planet and we have the right to rule with him because of what God made us in Christ.

In this issue, I'd like to share with you some of the prophesy in the Old Testament concerning this coming kingdom.

We begin in the book of Daniel.

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

Here we see a prophecy telling of an event in the future when a kingdom will be set up by the God of heaven, which shall never be destroyed. We also see that this kingdom will not be overthrown by other kingdoms, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. Some may say this kingdom is referring to one of the great kingdoms in the world.

However, in verse 44 of Daniel 2, it says that the kingdom shall stand forever! No earthy kingdom has ever or will ever be able to make that claim. This kingdom is referred to in the New Testament.

Acts 3:11-26 ¹¹And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.

¹²And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence, of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. ¹⁴But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; ¹⁵And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. ¹⁶And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. ¹⁹Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come, from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: ²¹Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. ²²For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever, he shall say unto you.

²³And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. ²⁴Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. ²⁵Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. ²⁶Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

Here, we see that Jesus was received into heaven. We also see that the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and that God has promised to send Jesus again.

When the time is fulfilled and the times of restitution begin, Jesus will be here to restore the things of God which the kingdom of God is part.

The word restitution means : "restoration, an action restoring, restoration of a thing to its former good state."

Acts 3:22-26 ²²For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. ²³And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

²⁴Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. ²⁵Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. ²⁶Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

NAB Amos 9:8-15 ⁸The eyes of the Lord GOD are on this sinful kingdom; I will destroy it from off the face of the earth. But I will not destroy the house of Jacob completely, says the LORD. ⁹For see, I have given the command to sift the house of Israel among all the nations, As one sifts with a sieve, letting no pebble fall to the ground. ¹⁰By the sword shall all sinners among my people die, those who say, "Evil will not reach or overtake us." ¹¹On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, ¹²That they may conquer what is left of Edom and all the nations that bear my name, say I, the LORD, who will do this. ¹³Yes, days are coming, says the LORD, When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed; The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it. 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.

What is God going to restore? His people-to the kingdom and the land. This prophecy appears throughout the Old Testament.

Let's take time to look at several of them.

NAB Ezekiel 21:27 Destruction! Destruction! I will surely destroy the kingdom. And it will not be restored until the one appears who has the right to judge it. Then I will hand it over to him.

The prophets of old knew one day the kingdom would be restored. Why don't we?

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.

NLT Micah 4:7 They are weak and far from home, but I will make them strong again, a mighty nation. Then I, the LORD, will rule from Jerusalem as their king forever.

Thayers translates verse 7: "..the kingdom over which God rules;"

NIV Isaiah 16:5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness, a man will sit on it-one from the house of David-one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Now just who do you think that man is?

NIV Isaiah 2:1-4 ¹This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: ²In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. ²In the days the mountains of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. ³Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ⁴He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will heat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

This talks of a time when Jesus will set up his kingdom here on the earth in his millennial reign.

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 word in Greekbasileia.

Daniel saw this in the future concerning Israel. So, there will be a coming kingdom where the son of man shall rule here upon the earth.

Daniel 7:15-18 ¹⁵I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. ¹⁶I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. ¹⁷These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. ¹⁸But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

Some of the saints referred to here include all born again believers.

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 administration, God at one point will set up a kingdom here on earth. If God will set up this kingdom, then it would be His kingdom, right?

To be continued…ÿ

Go to the next issue.

Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation,  NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, NAS means the New American Standard Version, NLT means the New Living Translation, and NAB means the New American Bible translation.   For more information, go to the Works Cited page.