It would obviously be beyond the limits of a paper like the present to notice all the passages in the prophetic scriptures, which speak of the reign or kingdom of David's Son and Lord. But there are two great divisions of the period during which the prophecies as to it were delivered; the one prior to the incarnation of Christ, the other subsequent to it. Then again, the former of these divisions is subdivided by an event of much greater importance than is generally attached to it; I mean the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the captivity of the Jewish nation. Until this event occurred, God had a nation or kingdom on the earth. In that kingdom the descendants of David's royal line wielded the scepter and occupied the throne as the anointed ones of God. They held their dominion by virtue of God's gift of it to David and his seed, God Himself having still His dwelling at Jerusalem; and it was by His laws that the royal authority had to be exercised. It was God's kingdom. It is true that many of the kings rebelled against God and set at naught His laws.
And here it was that the ministry of the prophets came in. They testified against the sins of the nation and its kings, foretold the judgments by which those sins were to be punished, and called both kings and people to repentance. Further, for the comfort of any who, either then or afterward, should hearken to their voice, they foretold the glories of the coming kingdom of the true Son of David, the heir of all the blessings promised to David and his seed. This prophetic ministry in its most definite form began with Isaiah (in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah), and includes his prophecies, with those of Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Micah.
After the overthrow of Jerusalem and captivity of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, things were entirely changed. It was not that there was any transfer of royal authority from the house of David to some other family in Israel, as there had been from Saul and his house to David and his seed. No; the covenant with David and his seed is not broken; so far from this, the captivity was a part of the chastening promised in the covenant if the children of David should fail to walk in his steps. But there was a transfer of power, a transfer of it from Israel altogether to the Gentiles. Yet this transfer of power to the Gentiles did not constitute them God's kingdom. Israel had ceased to be such.
The city which He had chosen for His habitation was entirely destroyed; His presence was no longer manifested in the magnifical temple which Solomon had built for his glory. Ezekiel had seen that glory remove first from the temple (see Ezek. 10:18, 19), and then from the city altogether (11:23); and the temple where that glory had once dwelt was now burned with fire. Israel was given over into the hands of the Babylonish empire. To the king of Babylon it was said, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heavens hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all” (Dan. 2:37, 38).
But, large as was this gift of power, it did not constitute Nebuchadnezzar God's anointed, nor did it make his empire the kingdom of God. All that had made Israel such was now removed from the guilty nation, but not bestowed on their Gentile oppressors. There was no shekinah at Babylon; no sacrifices there to the God of heaven; nor was there any divine code of laws to regulate the exercise of the imperial power with which the monarch was invested. One of the first acts of that power was to establish idolatry and punish with death all who refused to worship an idol. And all that is foretold of Gentile dominion is its being used in one act of rebellion against God after another, till it is destroyed at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But then, we are told, “the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2:44). This is quoted from a prophecy delivered and recorded during the latter subdivision of the period preceding the birth of Jesus.
Again, Ezekiel in a manner belongs to both subdivisions. He was himself a captive in Chaldea, but his prophecy was in part addressed to those who still remained at Jerusalem. Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, belong to the period which succeeds the carrying away captive to Babylon. These last prophesied to a poor feeble remnant who had been permitted to return. Not that the dominion was restored to them, or the kingdom of God again set up. No; they were tributaries and subjects of the king of Persia; and the chief end for which they seem to have been restored to their own land is, that among them Christ might be born, and that to them He might be presented as their long-expected king; the Seed of Abraham and the Lord of David, as well as the Seed of the woman and the Son of God.
But let us pause at this point, before considering this great crisis in the history of the world as well as of Israel, and let us glance at some of the principal points in the Old Testament prophecies touching Christ's kingdom. In doing this, I can only refer to the passages without quoting them; and let those who may be interested in the inquiry consult them, with their contexts, in God's holy word. There seem to me to be four great leading traits in the prophetic picture of the kingdom so often spoken of. There are, of course, innumerable details: I confine myself to the grand leading features.
He who is to reign as king is the Lord Jesus Christ. (Psa. 2:6-9; 24; 25; 72; 110; 118:22-26; Is. 4:6, 7; 11:1-5, and 10; 32:1, 2. Jer. 23:5, 6; 33:14-17; Ezek. 34:23, 24; 37:22-25. Dan. 7:13, 14. Mic. 5:2-4. Zech. 6:12, 13; 9:9, 10). All these passages, and many more, under various names and titles, set forth our Lord Jesus Christ as the One who is to reign in Israel and over all the earth.
Jerusalem or Zion is the place of the special display of the glory of Christ on earth in His kingdom. (Isa. 1:26, 27; 2:3; 12:6; 24:23; 27:13; 38:20, 23; 60:14; 62:1-12; 66:10-29, Jer. 3:17; 33:10, 11, Joel 3:16, 17; Mic. 4:7, 8; Zeph. 3:14-17; Zech. 2:10-12; 8:2-8; 14:16-21). I say on earth; because the rejection of Christ by Israel and the putting off, as it were, of His reign, have made way for the unfolding of God's purpose, that His Son should have a heavenly Bride as well as an earthly kingdom; that He Himself should have a family in heaven, as well as a kingdom on the earth. But as to the kingdom of Christ on the earth, it is clear from all the passages cited as well as from others, that in it Jerusalem has the chief place; that it is, so to speak, the center or the metropolis of Christ's kingdom on the earth-” the city of the great king.”
In the kingdom of Christ, the Gentiles are to be subject to Israel; they are to hold a subordinate or inferior place. This is important; for under the present dispensation the great truth is, that “in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free.” For proof that it will not be thus in the kingdom of Christ, as foretold in the Old Testament, see amongst others the following passages: Isa. 11:10; 14:1, 2; 49:22-26; 60:3-16; 61:5-9; 66:12; Mic. 5:7, 8; Zech. 8:22, 23.
The effects of this reign of Christ will be universal righteousness and peace. (See Psa. 72 Isa. 2:2-4; 11:6-9; 25:7; 59:19; 60:1-22. Mic. 4:1-5; Zeph. 3:9, 10; Zech. 14:9).
The light shed on this subject by the further revelation of the New Testament may be considered, if the Lord will, in another communication. Meanwhile the Lord grant us, in deep reverence of spirit, and yet in the joy which His own presence alone can inspire, to pursue these meditations on His word, and to be by them more and more separated from all else to Himself! W.T.
(concluded from p. 364).