God’s Covenant (6)

“Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”2 Samuel 7.11-13

The promise of a kingdom
The sub-arch of the covenant at Mt. Sinai brings forward the essential components of the covenants with Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and extends for the rest of the Old Testament. But it is bolstered and supported by an additional sub-arch, that of the covenant God made with David.

The footings of that sub-arch were laid in the covenants with Abraham and with Israel at Mt. Sinai. In Genesis 49.8-11, on the roadway of redemption under the sub-arch of the Abrahamic covenant, God promised to provide a king for His people Israel from the tribe of Judah. Kings would descend from Judah and rule over Israel until Shiloh appeared. This word is a contraction in the Hebrew language, meaning something like, “He Whose it is.” A King would come, Jacob prophesied, Who would be He-for-Whom-the- Kingdom-of-Israel was being prepared. At that time, the dynasty of kings descending from Judah would cease, and Shiloh would remain King forever.

Under the covenant made with Israel at Mt. Sinai, Israel was promised a king, but with the proviso that this king must rule under and according to the Law of God (Deut. 17). The king Israel would choose must submit to the Law and fulfill it if Israel was to realize her full promise as God’s covenant people.

A kingdom was promised to Israel under the covenant with Abraham. The character of that kingdom was outlined under the covenant made at Mt. Sinai. And under David, yet more specifics of that kingdom would be revealed.

David’s kingdom and the Kingdom to come
At the time David became king over Israel, God was already preparing a way for His people across the remainder of time’s river, unto the bank of eternal blessing in His presence and peace. And that journey involved a King, descended from David, Who would reign over the Kingdom of God forever.

Surely, this King would be none other than the promised Shiloh, to Whom all the nations would declare their allegiance?

From the time of David onward the focus on a coming King and Kingdom begins to accelerate. Prophets like Isaiah and Daniel foretold the coming of a Kingdom that would be characterized by the righteousness of God’s Law, that would grow and increase and fill the entire earth, and that would overcome and supplant all other kingdoms and nations.

A King was promised to rule over this Kingdom. He would be lowly, and serve His people like a shepherd, and He Himself would be the promised peace for God’s chosen people (Mic. 5.2-5). This King would give His Kingdom to those who believe in Him, and they would inherit the nations of the world as a result (Ps. 111.6-9; Dan. 7.18-27). His Kingdom would rule the entire earth, offering to the nations of the world the opportunity of living in the promise and peace of the Lord (Ps. 2), while, at the same time, suppressing and overwhelming any who opposed this advancing rule (Ps. 110.1).

This King would be exalted to the right hand of God, where He would rule in righteousness, peace, and joy a people of His own possession (Pss. 45, 47, 93, 110).

From David onwards, the covenant of God, which had been an ever-widening roadway from Adam and Noah, through Moses and Israel, was being mapped out for greater breadth still, taking in all the nations and peoples of the earth.

So, where is this King?
The disasters of first, Israel’s, then Judah’s destruction and captivity were intended by God to send a message about the nature of the promised Kingdom that would bring in all the blessings of His covenant. No merely temporal realm would suffice. Men would always be sinners. They would always rebel against God, preferring their own gods to Him and flaunting their own power rather than resting in the power of the Lord.

The result of all earthly kingdoms, even those where devotion to God was at least superficially practiced, would be rebellion, judgment, and collapse. No human efforts can secure the blessings of God’s covenant. Only God can provide these, and He chose to do so, not in an earthly kingdom or through merely human rulers, but in a Kingdom not of this world, ruled by an eternal King Whose goings-forth were from all eternity past and would continue through all eternity to come. This is why God left His people without a king when they returned from captivity in Babylon, but continued to point forward to a day when His Kingdom would once again prevail over the earth.

God’s King and His Kingdom are the great covenantal bridge, spanning time from before the beginning to after the end. When that Kingdom finally came to earth, to provide the roadway of redemption along the arch-spans of God’s covenant, it was not “begun” by the One Who proclaimed it. Rather, it was “brought near,” as He Himself insisted over and over. The Kingdom had always existed, held in the mind of our Creator and Redeemer, and in abeyance historically, until Shiloh, the eternal Son of David, should come to introduce it into the everyday realities of human history.

For reflection
1.  What is your understanding of the Kingdom of God? Where is it? How does one enter it?

2.  Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom was “near” or “at hand” or even “within you.” Meditate on John 20.21. For what reason has God sent us into the world?

3.  Meditate on Romans 14.17, 18 and Matthew 6.33. How do you work out these two passages in your daily life?

Next steps – Conversation: What is the Kingdom of God? How does it relate to the promises of God and His covenant? What is your place in the Kingdom of God (1 Thess. 2:12)? Talk with some Christian friends about these questions.

T. M. Moore

You can learn more about God’s covenant and why it’s so important by ordering T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here). For a deeper study of God’s covenant, order the workbook, God’s Covenant, from our online store (click here).

To learn how God’s covenant defines the shape of Scripture, and guides our approach to understanding and using the Bible, enroll in the course, Introduction to Biblical Theology. It’s free and online, and you can study at your own pace or with friends. To learn more and to register, click here. This week’s study is Part 1 of a series on The Word of God, and is available as a free download by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.