Kingship
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Intro
Intro
Who’s going to lead God’s people?
You may think of kings or leaders as a “necessary evil” like police. If there was no sin or evil in the world, we wouldn’t need police. However, remember that there was authority structures before the fall, and they were good.
Even if there was no sin, we would still need leadership to make decisions. What side of the road should we drive on? Who’s going to do what jobs? How will we order our society? Even if everybody gets along and is accommodating, eventually someone has to make a call about life matters.
So asking the leadership question is important. It’s not just a question from history, not just a question for us today, it is a question for eternity: Who’s going to lead God’s people?
That person will be king. Not just a figurehead like you may be tempted to think of, but an active good leader and authority who protects and provides for His people.
This theme of kingship runs right through the Bible.
This may be familiar ground to those who have followed us through the our Psalms series last year. The Psalms are heavily focused on messianic kingship.
Even so, this morning we are doing a sweeping overview of this topic. It is the 5th, and second last of our series.
I hope you have been able to see some recurring themes across these different topics we have looked at. Each of them have an unfolding picture that is built over the course of salvation history. The Bible is not isolated moralistic stories, but a dense web of history, prophecy, wisdom and other literature that is knit together over thousands of years to form a cohesive message from God to humanity. Each topic we look at creates shadows and patterns that all point to one man.
I hope this series has helped you see how the Bible fits together, giving you confidence to ask how the more obscure bits fit into the whole. I hope you’re equipped to recognize the patterns that telegraph the meaning of God’s word to His people.
Speaking of patterns, lets briefly touch on some of the patterns of kingship that we will see pop up.
God’s Kings rule God’s people in God’s place
They usually follow a pattern -
Chosen
Anointed
Feats
Coronation
Rules by God’s Law
You won’t see this pattern all the time, especially for kings that only get a passing mention. But it is a pattern that you will see in varying degrees and very clearly with key figures in Bible history.
Where should we start? In the beginning! Lets look at the succession kings across the Bible...
Proto-kings Adam & Patriarchs
Proto-kings Adam & Patriarchs
Adam was like the first king. not only is he given a dominion mandate, he is made in the image of God.
He was like a vassal king - he was to rule under the LORD, remaining loyal to him.
Gen 2 makes it clear Adam has primary responsibility for the task, but also that women were to play a vital role in supporting this mission.
Adam was to rule over God’s creation, made by God, life breathed by the HS
He along with Eve undermined their position and brought sin to the world.
Kingship is not really much of an issue in the first 5 books of the Bible, but we do start to see, some hints and patterns arising.
After the Fall, God chooses one family to start his plan of redemption. This is God’s people.
There is a succession of patriarchs who lead God’s people, which works in the short term, but as generation follows generation and the people grow, what are you going to do? As individual tribes form, there’s no longer just one patriarch.
So who’s going to lead God’s people?
Melchizedek, King of Salem
Melchizedek, King of Salem
Intriguingly in this time period of the patriarchs, a strange king appears.
His presence is so brief, but so curious, because he is a figure to whom the patriarch Abraham gives deference. This is Melchizedek.
Genesis 14:17–20 (ESV)
After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer ... Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
This strange King blesses Abraham, and gives him a voluntary tax.
Melchizedek literally means King of Righteousness, and he is also King of Salem, which literally means King of Peace.
King of Righteousness, and King of Peace blessing God’s people and receiving gifts of honor from them.
Although the text is not explicit, many people think that the place Salem is Jeru-salem, albeit 100s of years before it would become the capital of Israel. But if true, this is an intriguing shadow of what is to come in the future.
So, who will reign over God’s people? Is it this Melchizedek? This powerful priestly servant of God?
Nope. As fast as he appeared on the scene he is gone forever.
Judges & Saul
Judges & Saul
After the patriarchs, God raised up prophetic leaders like Moses and Joshua to lead God’s people for a time. But they weren’t “royals”, they didn’t make dynasties or the like.
So who will lead God’s people into the future?
God rescued his people Israel from slavery in Egypt and brought them to Sinai. There God entered into covenant with Israel and essentially offered to be their king.
He said would go with them and protect them. And he did go with them as they wandered the desert and come to the promised land. Yet, God knew that even though he was their ultimate king, eventually the people would ask for an earthly king to be their leader. So the LORD set some ground rules...
“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
So they could have a king, but it would be a king that God chooses, and definitely not someone who is not part of God’s people. It is completely unacceptable that God’s people would be under the thumb of someone who is an enemy of God.
Now, one of the things this kings was to do was...
“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
So the proper King over God’s people is one who is chosen by God who will know and govern in accordance with God’s law. He essentially needs to copy out the Torah and study it so that he can be the kind of King that God’s people need.
But there was no king at that time. They had these ground rules, but there was not king.
Instead, after they arrived at the promised land and each tribe received it’s inheritance, all the people split up and settled in their new home states. There was no central leader or administration for their nation.
But God raised up a series of warlords to protect and help the nation. These we call “Judges”. They would gather armies and free the people of Israel from whatever trouble they had got themselves into.
After their mighty deeds they would often assume a kind of governorship in Israel for a time. They were chosen by God, but not to be kings.
In fact there was one who tried to become king by force. Gideon was judge that God raised up to deliver Israel, after his victory, they tried to make him king, but he declined. Gideon left 70 sons behind when he died. One son Abimelech conspired to not only take his fathers place of leadership, but to become king. So he teed up the “votes” from the who’s who of community leaders and the went and slaughtered all his brothers so there was no competition. Then they made him king.
But it was not to last.
A couple years later, in God’s providence a woman dropped a millstone on his head and wounded him terribly. So then he asked his young armour bearer to finish him off. The boy did it. So this man who would presume to set himself up as king over God’s people ended his life and reign in disgrace - a warrior king taken out by a woman and a young boy.
After some time the last Judge Samuel appeared on the scene.
He was a good bloke, except he didn’t discipline his sons. When he was old, people expected that Samuel’s sons would take over when he died, and the people were not very keen on that idea. They didn’t want those guys to have any power because they notoriously took bribes and perverted justice.
SO instead, the people of Israel said, now’s the time to invoke that king clause!
We want a king!
Not because they wanted a King after God’s own heart, or they though it would help them be a more faithful nation, but because the neighboring nations had kings and they felt like they were missing out.
Initially Samuel wanted to tell them off, but...
And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
God knew that their motives were badly placed, but he allowed them to choose this path and experience the consequences.
At least they were doing it the right way this time. God is the one who chooses their kings, so at least they were coming to Him to have it done right.
So God chose Saul to be their King.
Here’s the kind of guy they wanted. He looked like king material. He looked the part! He was tall, from a good family. Surely this is they best option right?
Well he fit the bill in many respects.
Chosen
Anointed (with HS too)
Feats
Coronation
But, he failed to live by God’s Word. He took it upon himself to do what he pleased instead of listening to God.
So God rejected Saul.
He looked the part of a king, but his heart was not with God.
So who’s going to lead God’s people?
David
David
So God raised up David in Saul’s place.
David didn’t look the part of a king.
He was a pretty boy and shepherd, the youngest son of a family from a random town.
Yet God knew and chose David as king.
Well he fit the bill in many respects.
Chosen
Anointed (with HS too)
Feats - Killed Goliath
Coronation
He sought to live and rule in accordance with God’s Law. He was devoted to the LORD.
He ruled from Jerusalem, the place where God wanted to be worshiped.
In this second king, it was made clear that God is not interested in outward appearance, but with the heart.
David too would make some big mistakes, but he was not disowned and overthrown like Saul. Not because he was any less deserving of punishment, but because David was loyal to the LORD. He was shown grace.
There were still temporal consequences for his actions, but God took away his sin. This meant David could continue to rule and bring in a golden age for Israel.
Despite his flaws, David was chosen by God to be the father of a great dynasty of kings. And not just a historically significant dynasty like the Tudors or the Ming dynasty, he would have a dynasty that lasted forever!
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
The LORD promised that the kingship of his people would eternally belong to David’s linage.
This is great news in many respects. After the train wreck that was Saul, now they have a king who is serious about following the Lord, and is willing to be corrected, he can defeat the enemies and bring prosperity for the people. And the news that his dynasty will last forever? yes please, we’ll have more of this!
David was a great king, but he was still a man. He died.
Who’s to say that Davids descendants will be as good?
Solomon & Successors
Solomon & Successors
David was succeeded by Solomon.
Initially things look great from him. He’s following in his fathers footsteps.
He dedicates himself to building a temple for God. His deepest desires were not for territorial expansion, or great wealth and power, instead he asked God for wisdom, so that he could be a better governor of God’s people.
Wow, this is the kind of leader we want!
It seems like things are looking up for God’s people, despite some rocky starts, this kingship thing is looking pretty good. They have a king chosen by God who is trying to lead them in God’s ways!
But.
There’s always a “but” isn’t there?
This wasn’t to last.
Solomon didn’t remain faithful. He lost himself in a huge harem, and started worshiping other gods. His heart wandered from the Lord.
So disappointing. He was a Son of David by blood, but he would not mimic his father’s steadfast loyalty.
Solomon becomes a big question mark in the Bible. Sometimes we have clear indications about whether someone was a true faithful believer or an enemy of God. But with Solomon we are left wondering. He had immense wisdom from God, and wrote several parts of the Bible, but he turned aside from faithfulness. Did he ever repent? Will we meet him in the New Creation?
Unfortunately, this ambiguity is the sign of the change in royal trends. Solomon is ambiguous, but it goes downhill from here.
Firstly, the next king after Solomon would divide the kingdom. No longer was God’s people ruled over by a chosen king of David’s line. The north rebelled, set up their own king.
The Books of Kings and Chronicles are characterized by a succession of Kings in both the north and south who mostly failed to live and reign in accordance with God’s law.
Although God’s promise for David’s line continued on in the southern kingdom, they were not faithful kings for the most part.
In the midst of these many failures, occasionally there is a bright light, like King Josiah who discovers the book of God’s Law and starts to reform the nation to follow God. But they are like little flashes of light in out of a well of darkness.
Kingship can be a blessing to the people when it is done right. But it was also a curse in the hands of unfaithful kings.
Eventually God drove them out of the promised land, north and south. Although David’s line continued, the kingship was suspended for a time.
God’s people were left yearning for a return to God’s land, to be ruled over by a good king from David’s line, who would be faithful and bring God’s law into their nation.
Although they got to return to the land after a while, the kingship was not reinstated. In part because the people of God were continually under the thumb of occupying nations for centuries.
Babylon - Persians - Greeks - Greek states - Rome.
So what’s going to happen. What should God’s people do?
Has God’s promise to David failed?
Who’s going to lead God’s people?
The King
The King
In the town of David, Bethlehem was born a descendant of David. His name was Jesus (or Joshua).
He didn’t look like much. Certainly not like a king. He was from a poor family.
Yet this was the new King that God had chosen. And not only a Davidic king, but the God-king. Son of David, Son of God.
He was anointed by the HS.
Accomplished mighty feats in the wilderness, doing battle with demons, and even overthrew Satan, sin and death.
He ascended as a coronanted king and now rules the world.
He is perfectly loyal. He is bringing God’s into effect everywhere.
Ruling over God’s people, in God’s place. God’s spreading his kingdom to the ends of the earth.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
What now?
What now?
Be loyal to the king!