“As a kingdom of priests, Israel was to mediate both the revelation from God and access to the presence of God.”[1] – John Walton, Old Testament Theology for Christians
What is a good definition of the Kingdom of God? Theologian Herman Ridderbos said, “The Kingdom of God is the great, divine work of salvation in its fulfillment and consummation in Christ.” I like that definition. It is His perfect and just rule over all of creation as He dwells amongst His people and works through them to bring all of creation into relationship with Himself. But given the state of the world (chaos, sin, disorder), we sometimes fail to understand and recognize that at this very moment the Triune God is ruling and reigning from His eternal throne. God is King, right now. And He is expanding His Kingdom through His people.
God’s Kingdom is seen throughout the Old Testament, beginning in Genesis 1 and 2. God created the universe to be His cosmic temple and the very first verses of the Bible speak to His rule and dominion over all He made. As the first chapters of Genesis continue to unfold, temple language and imagery is everywhere. God built a set apart, sacred space (the Garden of Eden) where He would meet with and dwell amongst His people. Adam and Eve were placed in that sacred space to have dominion and bring Him glory. Later in the Torah, the role of the Levitical priests would be an echo of Adam’s original commission—to have dominion in sacred space (the tabernacle) as stewards of God’s presence, mediating His presence to the rest of the world.
“I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians, waiting for the sky to get torn apart.” – Switchfoot, Politicians
The Kingdom motif continues to unfold throughout the pages of the Old Testament. God established a literal kingdom in Israel at the close of the period of the judges. The kingdom in Israel was meant, as all previous stages of Israel’s history was, to reveal God’s character and purposes to the rest of the world. God even made a covenant with David that through his line, Messiah would one day come. And Messiah would fully usher in God’s Kingdom and rule (more on that in our next post). But as you know (if you’ve read your Old Testament), Israel failed in her mission to bring God’s blessing to the rest of the world. Rather, they turned inward, keeping God’s blessings to themselves and continually apostatizing from Him. But God had a plan to correct their failures. He Himself would come, bringing His reign and calling to Himself a redeemed people, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, to bring the blessings of Abraham to the rest of the world. And next time, we’ll look at how He did that.
Check out this beautiful version of How Great Is Our God. This sounds like a coming-attraction of what the Kingdom will be like.
To see part 1 of this series, click here
[1] John Walton, Old Testament Theology for Christians. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove: Illinois, p.111.