“No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.” Genesis 17.5-7

No king but God

Abraham had some experience of earthly kings, and it wasn’t all that great. Shortly after his appearing in Canaan, two episodes involving earthly kings must have colored Abraham’s view of such people in something of a negative light.

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Genesis 2.15

The three tasks of dominion

We’ve seen that, from the beginning, God instructed His people in the work of rule, of exercising dominion over the creation.

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1.28

From the beginning

The idea of rule and dominion under God – the idea of a Kingdom – has been present from the first days of humankind’s sojourn on the earth. On the day God created Adam and Eve, He instilled in them an idea of dominion, a call to exercise authority, by God’s command and according to His purposes, in acting upon the creation and creatures around them.

The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The LORD is clothed,
He has girded Himself with strength.
Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting. Psalm 93.1, 2

Kingdom confusion

I can think of few Biblical teachings on which it is more important for Christians to be clear than the teaching concerning the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is a consistent Biblical theme. Visionary leaders have seen it from Adam to Jesus to John, and in this study, you can see it, too.

Ecclesiastes 11.10

¹⁰ Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 11.9

⁹ Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.

Ecclesiastes 11.7, 8

⁷Truly the light is sweet,
And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;
⁸But if a man lives many years
And rejoices in them all,
Yet let him remember the days of darkness,
For they will be many.
All that is coming is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 11.6

⁶In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.

Ecclesiastes 11.5

⁵As you do not know what is the way of the wind,
Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.

Ecclesiastes 11.3, 4

³If the clouds are full of rain,
They empty themselves upon the earth;
And if a tree falls to the south or the north,
In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Ecclesiastes 11.1, 2

¹Cast your bread upon the waters,
For you will find it after many days.
²Give a serving to seven, and also to eight,
For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.