| October 29, 2000 |
Vol. III, No. 26
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[Editor’s Note: Most likely numerous gospel preachers have approached this subject from the same standpoint we’ll be using, but we wish to give credit to the faithful brother from whom we got the idea -- James R. Trigg.]
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messianic kingdom which was to come. We certainly cannot exhaust the subject in one relatively short article. There are many misconceptions about Christ’s kingdom, and neither can we deal with all of them in one lesson, but we believe this fundamental study will go a long way toward the understanding of this Bible subject.
In this approach, we will center in on four chapters of Scripture -- three chapters from the Old Testament, and one from the New. You can remember these four chapters. They are Daniel, chapter 2; Isaiah, chapter 2; Joel, chapter 2; and Acts, chapter 2.
From these chapters we will learn four basic facts about the Messianic kingdom. (1) When it was to be established, (2) Who would be its citizens, (3) where it would originate, and (4) What would be its nature and/or primary characteristics.
DANIEL, CHAPTER 2. Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which troubled him greatly. He perceived that the dream had meaning and significance, so he sought out his advisors and hoped to learn from them what his dream meant. Reading from the King James translation, one is inclined to get the impression that the king had forgotten his dream -- “the thing is gone from me” (vs. 5). The New King James Version helps us to understand that it was not the dream that had gone from him, but that the DECREE had gone out from him that his advisors must tell him what he dreamed and what it meant, or else they would be executed -- “my decision is firm” (vs. 5, NKJ). At any rate, he demanded that they first tell him what he dreamed, then what it meant. They, of course, could not do so.
When news came to Daniel of the king’s decision, he asked for time to consult with God, then promised to reveal to the king the information he had requested. Daniel explained that the king had dreamed of a great image with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs and feet of iron and clay (vs. 31-32). Then, in verse 38, Daniel begins to explain the meaning to Nebuchadnezzar. The image told of four world empires. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire. The chest and arms represented a second kingdom to arise after Babylon. That kingdom is identified in Dan. 5:28 as the Medo-Persian empire. The belly and thighs represented the next world empire to arise after Medo-Persia. That kingdom is identified in Dan. 8:3-7 as the Grecian empire. The legs and feet of the image represented a fourth kingdom to arise after the Grecian empire. That fourth empire is not identified in the book of Daniel, but students of history are well aware that the next kingdom to arise after Greece was the Roman Empire. Dan. 2:44 tells us that “in the days of these kings” -- in the days of the Roman Empire, “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.”
An interesting point is found in Dan. 2:35 where Christ’s kingdom is viewed as “a great mountain” that “filled the whole earth.”
It should be noted that the image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream represented four world empires, and only four. The passage does not say there would be no more worldly powers after these, but the things prophesied were to occur within the time covered by these four powers.
Note that Daniel, chapter two, provides answers to two of our questions: (1) When Christ’s kingdom would be established, and (2) Who would be the recipients of that kingdom. The Messianic kingdom was to be established in the days of the Roman Empire, and “it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms” (vs. 44). A parallel prophecy in Daniel, chapter 7, says, “Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:14).
ISAIAH, CHAPTER 2. “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isa. 2:2-4).
In this brief passage Isaiah supplies answers to all four of our questions: When, Who, Where, and What. (1) When -- “It shall come to pass in the latter days” (last days, KJV). Note that the term “last days’ is used in the Scriptures to describe the last age of the earth. Bible time is divided into three basic ages. The patriarchal age lasted from the creation to the time of Moses. The Mosiachial age lasted from the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai until the time of Christ. The third and last age or “last days” began with the ascension and coronation of Christ, corresponding to the events of the day of Pentecost, Acts, chapter two. The “mountain of the Lord’s house,” the kingdom of Christ, would be established in this third period of Bible history -- the last days.
(2) Who would make up the citizenry of that kingdom? Isaiah says, “all nations shall flow to it.”
(3) Where would this begin to take place -- “Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
(4) And what will be its nature? It is to be a peaceful, spiritual rule. Carnal weapons will be converted to peaceful uses. Different nationalities who have come into this kingdom will no longer war against one another. Though the warfare between the forces of God and the forces of Satan will continue till time is no more, the weapons of that warfare are not carnal, 2 Cor. 10:4.
JOEL, CHAPTER 2. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls” (Joel 2:28-32).
This passage, like the one in Isaiah 2, gives an answer to all four of our questions. (1) When -- “afterward” (in the last days, KJV). (2) Who -- “all flesh.” (3) Where -- “in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.” (4) What --salvation, spiritual blessings. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Now, turning to the New Testament Scriptures, we see the fulfillment of these and many other prophecies, in Acts, chapter 2.
ACTS, CHAPTER 2. “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come” the apostles of Jesus were assembled in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit came upon them and “they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit game them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven...” Simon Peter, standing with the eleven other apostles, explained, “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel,” and then he quotes word for word from Joel 2:28-32. This passage clearly shows that the phrase “last days” is not limited to the last few days of the earth’s existence, but to the third and last of the great divisions or “dispensations” of time recognized in the Scriptures. The “last days” or last age had already begun on the Pentecost of Acts 2, about 30 A.D.
Note that this passage confirms what we have already noted, and tells us these four things about the Messianic kingdom. (1)When was it established -- “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days...’” Fulfilled, Acts 2:16-17.
(2) Who constitutes its citizenship -- “devout men, from every nation under heaven... Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans, and Arabs...” (Acts 2:5, 9-11).
(3) Where does this begin to take place -- in Jerusalem, verses 5, 14.
(4) What is the nature of Christ’s rule -- spiritual peace and tranquillity brought about by a common salvation, the forgiveness of sins, verses 21, 36-38, 44-47.
In conclusion, we return to a statement found in Dan. 2:45, “Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold -- the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”
--CRJ