The Kingdom Presence: Old Testament (13)

“Then the kingdom and the dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Daniel 7.27

And again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying:
I will shake heaven and earth.
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms.
I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them;
The horses and their riders shall come down,
Every one by the sword of his brother. Haggai 2.20-22

The folly of kings
It may have been that David and Solomon set the bar of expectations so high in ancient Israel that the very greatness of their success bred the disasters of Israel and Judah in the generations that followed.

Certainly, one of the main lessons to be derived from the monarchic period of Israel’s history is that the Kingdom God intends to establish, and over which He will rule, cannot be defined by the parameters and protocols of a merely earthly realm. While Israel achieved an almost unprecedented measure of greatness, splendor, and prosperity under David and Solomon, subsequent rulers, for a variety of reasons, failed to realize the same height of success. And internecine fights, fueled by idolatry and the lust for power, hastened the ultimate disintegration and destruction of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of the people of Israel.

All this was very discouraging to the Israelites and their rulers. They had come to understand through the patriarchs and Moses that God was planning a great and expansive kingdom in which His people would know His blessings and extend them to all nations and peoples. For nearly a century, under David and Solomon, their hopes must have soared as they participated in the wealth, power, safety, and prestige of the Davidic Kingdom.

But their folly was in thinking primarily in temporal and material terms. As Daniel foresaw, the Kingdom God would give to His saints would come to them from heaven via the auspices of the Son of Man as an eternal and unshakeable Kingdom. Had they looked as hard for this Kingdom as they fought and connived for their earthly ones, the kings of Israel and Judah might have realized more of the promised blessings of God.

The prophets in the kingdom
But as their kingdoms began to unravel, Israel’s hopes of realizing all that God had promised must have begun to dwindle.

Into that situation, as the folly of human rulers tore to shreds the kingdom fabric of the nation, the prophets of God began to point His people to larger horizons, grander vistas, and even more expansive promises of Kingdom realization. They seemed to say to the people of Israel and Judah, “Not here. Not this king. Not these vain, material hopes. But there, farther along, in a coming day, under an eternal King—there is where the blessing will be known!”

While we cannot look in detail at the many specific insights given the various prophets concerning the promised coming of the Kingdom of God, I want us to consider, in this installment and the next, five aspects of their collective vision which fueled the hopes of the faithful and laid the groundwork for the greatest events the history of humankind would ever know.

The prophetic vision of the coming Kingdom of God grows like a gathering storm—a storm of drenching grace and glory—throughout the prophetic literature, leaving the Old Testament to close, at least for the faithful, with a powerful expectation of the soon and sudden appearing of a glorious, divine intervention in the affairs of men and nations: the coming of God’s Kingdom, and of His promised King.

God’s authority
First, the prophets reminded the people that it is vain to hope in earthly kings, or to consider that a mere earthly kingdom could contain all that God has promised for His people. The vision of the prophets is one in which, first, the faithful of Israel are reassured that God Himself is King. He rules from His throne in heaven, and His power extends to all nations and peoples. In Haggai’s prophecy, God clears the decks of the world by making the kingdoms of the world submit to His rule and power. In Daniel’s vision, the Ancient of Days presents the Son of Man with a Kingdom, and He, in turn, hands it over to the saints of the Most High God. And though they are tormented, opposed, and oppressed as they struggle to realize this great gift and calling, in the end, the saints prevail, as all kingdoms and authorities of men come under the power and authority of the Most High God.

Such a vision would have been necessary in view of the continuing ravages and losses Israel and Judah experienced at the hands of repressive and violent regimes. It might have appeared to many that God was not as powerful as these earthly kings and their gods, for He seemed unable to defend Israel or Judah against their attacks (Habakkuk). Indeed, even His temple, the very dwelling-place of God on earth, was destroyed and plundered by Nebuchadnezzar in a deliberate attempt to vaunt his own majesty and might over the God of Israel (2 Chronicles, Daniel).

But prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, Amos, Habakkuk, Nahum, and more made it clear to all the faithful that the sins of the nations—particularly those committed against the people of God—did not escape the notice of their God. In His way and time, the prophets proclaimed, God would reassert His authority and power over all the nations of the region, and all the peoples of the earth, to demonstrate His justice and might and to validate His claim of sole allegiance and exclusive worship.

Thus, the first point in the message of the prophets was a call to faith, a summons to Israel to focus their hopes beyond this world into the heavenly realm, where even in their day God was preparing events that would turn the world upside down in time. It’s a message we need to hear again in our day.

For reflection or discussion
1. What is a prophet? What is the role of prophets in the Old Testament? Are there prophets in the Church yet today (Eph. 4.11)?

2. Jesus taught us to pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven. What expectations does such a prayer hold out for you?

3. What does it mean for you to “seek” the Kingdom and righteousness of God? How will you do so today?

Next steps—Preparation: Meditate on the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6.9-13), especially as He commands us to pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom. What does the coming of the Kingdom look like in your life? In your Personal Mission Field?

T. M. Moore

A companion book to this study of “Kingdom Presence” is available at our bookstore. Listen to an excerpt from The Kingdom Turn, by clicking here. Then order your free copy.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study.