We’ve been discovering the Kingdom of God over the past two weeks, and I’m really excited about our third week, because it’s where the Old Testament meets the New Testament.
This week, we will discover the Kingdom of God as it is presented in the Old Testament, and see what it looked like when God became king over His people.
Now, Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Christians properly revere and honor the King of the Kingdom. Is that truth laid out for us in the Old Testament as well?
Remember, the Old Testament is the Bible Jesus used. When Jesus is quoting Scripture, He is quoting the Old Testament. What’s more, the Old Testament is the Bible that the first-century Christians used.
The apostle Paul and the other apostles searched the Old Testament to develop their understanding of the work of Jesus. So, we will discover today how the Old Testament was preparing God’s people long ago to receive the King of Kings.
And it’s not just a history lesson. There is much to learn about God’s will and God’s ways from the Old Testament. There are three specific places we will visit today on our discovery … the Exodus story, the story of King David, and the prophecies of Isaiah.
Let’s start with the Exodus story.
The book of Exodus tells us how God’s people moved from slavery to freedom. How God’s people discovered the glory in the majesty of their God – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And in the Exodus story, we find the Kingdom of God presented subtly at first, and later in a bold and outright way. Exodus tells us the true story of how God used Moses to free the people of Israel from Egyptian slavery. Remember the ten plagues of Egypt? The beauty and the terror of the Passover? The thrill of crossing the Red Sea?
Perhaps you remember that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do the same thing, the Red Sea crashed in on them. In the blink of an eye, the greatest military power on earth was defeated.
On the other side of the Red Sea, the people of Israel watched in amazement as they saw the work of God happen right before their eyes. After the army of Egypt had been defeated, the people of Israel sang a song of praise.
Now, the song was not like one of our praise songs this morning. This was a wild celebration. The people of Israel thought they were going to die, only to see God rescue them in dramatic and miraculous fashion.
In Exodus chapter 15, the people of Israel sang what we now know as “The Song of Moses.” We would think of it as a strange worship song, because it talks about the horse and the rider being thrown into the sea. It talks about how the story of Israel’s freedom will instill fear in all their enemies. But I want to call your attention to the very last line in the song, “The Lord will reign forever and ever.” Exodus 15:18
This is the first mention of God’s Kingdom in the Old Testament, even though you do not see the specific words “the Kingdom of God.
The key is the word “reign”. This verse is considered to be the beginning of the Kingdom of God theology in the Old Testament because only a king can reign. The people of Israel were singing and shouting that God was their king, and that God would be their king forever and ever.
God received this praise, and confirmed it again when He spoke from Mount Sinai in Exodus chapter 19. As God prepares to deliver the 10 Commandments to the children of Israel, here is what He says…
“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:4-6
Do you see the Kingdom of God in the Exodus story now? As God describes His rescue of the people of Israel, God himself declares His purpose … that the nation of Israel would become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
It was God’s intention back then that, after Israel possessed the promised land of Canaan, the people of Israel would be a shining example of what it was like to live with God as their king.
The other nations of the world would behold Israel’s beauty and holiness. The other nations of the world would travel to Jerusalem to study what it would be like to live in godly order and peace.
So, why did God rescue the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt? Because He wanted an entire kingdom that consisted solely of priests dedicated to Him.
Now, you may not be familiar with the work of the priesthood. But at its core, the work of a priest is to represent humanity before God and to represent God before humanity.
One of the great gifts of the Reformation was the rediscovery that the priestly work was not reserved for just a few select people, but that every believer was his own priest.
Martin Luther called it “the priesthood of all believers.” And we see and hear this in Exodus. The people of Israel are set free so that they can represent God to the rest of the watching world.
Do you see the application for us today? Through Jesus, God sets us free from the slavery of sin, in order for us to live lives that speak of God’s goodness and God’s glory.
God has rescued us from sin so that we can live in the beauty of His holiness. From the days of Exodus, until our days here and now, God desires a community of people that can live and represent the grace, mercy, and love of God.
The apostle Peter, drawing on these very same verses in Exodus, says…
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10
What was true of Israel in the time of Exodus is also true of us as believers today … we have received mercy in order that we would show the mercy and goodness of God to a watching world. A world desperately in need of the good news of the Gospel.
So, that is the first picture of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament. The second picture of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament is the reign of King David.
Now, David’s life is a long and complicated story. But the significance of King David, the greatest king in the history of Israel, is that he was a representation of the eventual Messiah who was forthcoming.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.
When the crowds received Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, they cried out hosanna to the Son of David…
All Israel knew that the Messiah would be a great king like King David. So, while King David was obviously not perfect, he was a type of messiah.
Consider the words of “a blind man, Bartimaeus. He was…
“…sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” Mark 10:46-48
Where did Bartimaeus get this idea that Jesus was the Son of David? Actually, it was not his idea at all. In that day, all of Israel expected that the Messiah would be the “Son of David.”
All of Israel expected that the glory and greatness of the kingdom during the reign of King David would be restored. Do you remember that these words were also shouted as Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday?
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Mark 11:9-10
So, there it is again … the word kingdom. The greatness of David’s kingdom led the people of Israel to look for a day when God himself would be king among them.
The application for us today is that we should not only receive Jesus, the one who takes away the sins of the world, we should also receive Him as the King of our lives.
As followers, we are the subjects of King Jesus. We are called to shape and mold our lives around the values and the priorities of our King. We are called to represent the Son of David to those around us.
We have viewed the picture of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament from Exodus and the reign of King David. The final picture of the Kingdom of God that I will draw from the Old Testament is the from the prophecy of Isaiah.
He prophesized what the world would be like when the Son of God took His place as the King of God’s eternal kingdom.
One could think of the Exodus story being like a big-screen television, presenting the work of God in a dramatic way. Then, the life of King David is bigger and grander, presenting the kingdom on a much larger movie theater screen, like a movie. But then, the prophecies of Isaiah would be like an IMAX screen they are so great.
Isaiah not only prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, he also prophesied about the rule and reign of the Messiah … a kingdom that would come to earth and LAST forever.
There are MANY, MANY passages in Isaiah that declare the coming kingdom and the greatness of the King. But we only have time to look at one. So, I chose Isaiah chapter 9 to examine, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
I suspect you are thinking that this is a Christmas passage, and you are wondering why I would be talking about it now? And you would be correct in that this verse is commonly quoted at Christmas time.
But here is what I want you to notice today … right in the middle of the verse is the phrase, “the government will be on His shoulders.”
This is a Kingdom of God reference again! But it gets even better and grander as we look at the next verse:
“Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:7
Verse seven certainly enlarges our understanding of Isaiah’s prophecy. Yes, Jesus was born to us as a child, but boy did He grow into a king. The heir to the throne of David. And Isaiah prophesies that the government of God and the peace of Christ will be without end.
Imagine the very first Christians, those who knew Jesus and walked with Him. They heard His teachings about the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
They saw the horror of the crucifixion, followed closely by the glory of the resurrection! Then, after the Lord ascended to the right hand of the Father, these earliest Christians ran to their Bibles, the Old Testament, and discovered that God had been teaching Israel about the coming of the King and His forever kingdom throughout the entire book.
This is not merely a history lesson for us. The Old Testament is still God’s Word to us today, especially as it points us to Jesus the King and the Kingdom of God.
Today’s message cannot possibly unlock all the secrets of the Kingdom of God found in the Old Testament. But it can encourage us to explore the Old Testament on our own, just like those early Christians.
After receiving Jesus as their Lord, they discovered the Lord’s fingerprints all over the Old Testament, which should not surprise us since the Bible is comprised of 66 Books inspired by the Holy Spirit, but containing a singular theme of reconciling us back to God.
So, as we close today, please keep in mind that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God that Jesus Himself preached includes each one of us being a priest in His Kingdom, as we heard from Peter earlier this morning.
So, the only question left is, “How will you fulfill your great calling?” Now THAT is a question you and I should ponder daily. Amen