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The Kingdom of God - in the Past
"And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
- The words are God's, recorded by Moses in the book of Exodus (19.6).
Moses and his people were at Mt. Sinai, in the desert between Egypt and modern day Israel. The
'children of Israel' were a nation of slaves who had just escaped from Egypt, where they had been demoralised by years of oppression and degradation. Why should God choose them out of all nations on earth to be His special people, His 'kingdom'?
God himself supplies the answer:
"The LORD did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers."
What was this oath (promise) that God had made? God does not make His promises lightly – what was the reason for making such a promise?
The answer starts with one man, Abram. Later God changed his name to the more familiar Abraham, which means 'father of many' (Genesis 17.5).
In the New Testament, Stephen tells us about this man Abraham and the early history of his many descendants (Acts 7. 2-22).
If you read this passage you will note from Stephen's words that Abraham was instructed by God to leave his homeland and go to a land that He would show him.
Abraham did exactly what God asked of him. He demonstrated his complete faith in God by leaving his previous way of life in a prosperous city and set out on a long journey into the unknown.
- Map of Abraham's 1,000 mile journey around the Fertile Crescent from Ur to Canaan.
- Map by biblehistory.com
At the same time, as we have noted from the previous
article, God made some far-reaching promises to Abraham. The writer of the letter to the
Hebrews comments on Abraham's faith and his obedience to God's call:
"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterwards receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise."
This chapter is well worth reading in full. It lists a number of men and women who demonstrated their faith in God in their lives. But more than that it reminds us of an important divine principle − God calls people to obey Him. That is something we need to keep in mind as we consider the lives of Abraham and his descendants.
The Promised Land
When Abraham finally reached his destination in the land of Canaan, God confirmed the promises made to him, including a very specific promise about the land to be given his descendants:
"... the LORD made a covenant (agreement) with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates"."
There were a number of branches of Abraham's family. But which descendants were the ones referred to in that far-reaching promise? Today we hear endless debates about the claims of the Palestinians and the threats of their Arab neighbours to remove Israel from their land by force. But we note from the passage in Hebrews (see above), that it was Abraham's descendants through Isaac and Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) who were 'the heirs with him' of that promise. The Bible is very precise about God's choice of the Jews and not the Arabs or any other nation as His chosen people.
The book of Genesis tells us about the history of Abraham's family through the line of his son Isaac and Isaac's son Jacob (Israel). Jacob had twelve sons from whom came the twelve tribes of Israel. If you read the account in the Bible, you cannot fail to notice that time and time again God was active in the lives of Abraham and his descendants through the work of the angels. Events were guided to bring about the development of His plan based on those very special promises made originally to Abraham.
The Exodus from Egypt
This brief review of the early history of Abraham's descendants brings us to a very important point in time. Jacob's family had gone into Egypt to escape famine in the land of Canaan (about 70 people). As time went by their numbers increased. The Egyptians regarded them as a threat to their security and enslaved them.
However, the divine promise was not to be frustrated. God had promised Abraham:
"... the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterwards they shall come out with great possessions."
These words were fulfilled when God brought plagues on Egypt and Pharaoh reluctantly agreed to let them go. The Israelites left Egyptian slavery to journey to the land of Canaan under the leadership of Moses.
- Foreign slaves make bricks as described in Exodus.
- Scene from the tomb of the Egyptian vizier Rekhmire 1 ~1450 BC
The kingdom of God founded at Sinai
They first travelled through the desert to Mount Sinai where God
made a covenant (agreement) with them. The book of Exodus tells us
about this covenant in God's words addressed to Moses:
"... Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
The divine instruction tells us something extremely important –
that the kingdom of God was founded at Sinai. Abraham's
descendants, the Israelites, entered into a covenant with God and they
were constituted a kingdom with God as their king. The children of
Israel were God's chosen people and they were commanded to be a 'holy nation'.
The word 'holy' means 'separate', indicating that God had separated them from the
other nations to serve Him.
This 'holy nation' is described here as 'a special treasure' to God 'above all people'.
They responded with the words:
"All that the LORD has spoken we will do"
At the same time their leader Moses was given wise laws to guide them in every aspect
of their daily lives. The 'Law of Moses' as it became known also
required them to set up a place of worship in the middle of their
encampment. As a 'kingdom of priests' with God as their king, they
were commanded to appoint priests from the tribe of Levi to
attend to all matters concerning worship.
The meeting place called 'the tabernacle' was a visual
reminder that God would dwell with them as long as they continued to worship and obey Him.
- The tabernacle in the wilderness, the symbol of God's presence with His people.
- Diagram by esvbible.com
The subsequent history of this nation that God chose for Himself
shows the fickleness of human nature, for many of them
did not show faith in the divine promise and died in the wilderness of Sinai.
They wandered in the desert for 40 years until that
faithless older generation had passed off the scene.
Just before the children of Israel entered the promised land, Moses
reminded them of the terms of that covenant made at Sinai:
"... you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of the King of Egypt. Therefore know that the LORD your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments; and he repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them"
The divine promise to Abraham was not thrown off course by the lack of
faith of the generation that came out of Egypt. Another leader,
Joshua, took the next generation into the land of Canaan. After a
period of conquest they eventually settled in the land which today is
known as the State of Israel.
In this brief review of the early history of the nation of Israel, we
have noted how God's promise to Abraham was carried out in a very
special way; how through this one man's descendants a nation was
born – a special people chosen to serve God. The hand of God
operating through his angels brought about their deliverance
from Egypt and led them to the promised land.
The Old Testament contains a detailed history of that kingdom
which had been established at Sinai, the kingdom of God on earth.
For many years they were lead by Judges, but the time came when the
people wanted to be like the surrounding kingdoms and be
ruled by a king they could see.
God told the prophet Samuel, the last of this line of Judges:
"Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them."
So Saul became the first human king to rule over the kingdom of God on earth.
The throne of the Lord in Jerusalem
Saul was succeeded by David who reigned first in Hebron, the place
where his great ancestor Abraham had been buried, and then in
Jerusalem, which became the ancient capital of the kingdom of God.
After a long and eventful reign David was succeeded by his son
Solomon. David acknowledged that both he and his son were in a very
privileged position – the kingdom they ruled over was still the
kingdom of God that had been established hundreds of years before
at Mount Sinai.
These are the words of David's prayer of thanksgiving at the end of his reign:
"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head over all."
David's prayer reminds us that God still retained overall sovereignty
over the nation of Israel, His covenant people, and the subsequent
kings of Israel were said to sit on God's throne. For example
when Solomon succeeded David:
"...Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father"
- The tabernacle was replaced by Solomon's temple and God remained at the centre of Israel's national life.
- Diagram by esvbible.com
The breaking of the covenant
This throne in Jerusalem eventually ceased to be occupied. Why?
The history of the Jewish people gives us the answer. It was a history
of spiritual decline, of failure to uphold the divine law given
through Moses and failure to keep the worship of the one true God at
the centre of their lives. Instead they turned to idolatry like the
surrounding nations and worshipped idols, gods of wood and
stone. They rebelled against the God of Israel who had chosen them
to be His special people and to serve Him alone. They broke the
covenant that was made at Sinai, yet God, in His love for His people,
sent prophets to warn them of the 1188 it existed on earth in the past
consequences of rebellion. The subsequent history of the nation demonstrates that the prophetic warnings
were ignored and eventually the kingdom came to an end.
Firstly it split into two kingdoms after the death of Solomon.
The northern kingdom of Israel was eventually invaded by the Assyrians
and most of the Jews were deported to various parts of the Assyrian empire.
The southern kingdom of Judah lasted a little longer but its capital Jerusalem was
besieged and destroyed by the Babylonians.
Its last king was taken to Babylon and most of the Jews who had survived the terrible siege
of Jerusalem were deported to various parts of the Babylonian empire.
A promise of restoration
Was that the end of the kingdom of God on earth?
The answer is found in some remarkable words of the prophet
Ezekiel addressed to Zedekiah the last king of Judah to sit on King
David's throne in Jerusalem. Ezekiel was among the captives in Babylon
and God made a promise that one day the kingdom would be restored:
"Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, thus says the Lord GOD: "Remove the turban, and take off the crown ... I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until he comes whose right it is, and I will give it to him"."
Six hundred years went by and the land of Israel came under the
domination of a succession of empires.
Although some of the captive Jews returned to Jerusalem
again, they were under the heel of foreign invaders. At the time of
Jesus, the land was just a small province of the mighty Roman Empire.
However, despite appearances, the divine promise to Abraham had not
been forgotten. God is always true to His Word. The main theme of the
teaching of Jesus was the gospel or good news of the coming kingdom
of God on earth (Matthew 4.23; Luke 8.1).
He appealed to the Jews of his day to treat it as their number
one priority − to 'seek first the kingdom of God' (Matthew 6.33).
- In AD 70: The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its temple.
- Here they carry off the 'menorah' (7-branched candlestick) from the Holy Place (relief on the Arch of Titus, Rome).
- Picture by Arly Zimin/Dreamstime.com
The letters of his apostles make it clear that this is not just a Jewish
hope, but includes men and women of all nations who share
Abraham's faith. The next section will demonstrate how God's
promise to Abraham will eventually become reality, when the kingdom
of God is re-established on earth in perfection and embracing all nations.
Based on the "Light on The Kingdom of God" special issue in 4 parts:
- Introduction to the Kingdom of God series and the central theme
- The Kingdom of God in the Past
- The Kingdom of God in the Future
- The change to the Kingdom of God and YOU
Next article (part 3) is The Kingdom of God in the Future
Author Many people were involved in writing and checking this article
Country UK
Source Light on a New World special edition: "Light on The Kingdom of God"
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