The Gospel of the Kingdom part 2 As Proclaimed by the Hebrew Prophets

Everything that was foretold by the Hebrew prophets by the Word of God, which by the way, all Christians acknowledge that Christ is the Logos or Word of God, will come to pass. And if they're not true, neither is John 316. And if that's the case, you're still dead in your sins. Welcome to Call to Glory, the cutting edge weekly podcast dedicated to helping you know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings. If this is your first time tuning in, please be sure to like, share, comment, and subscribe. On this episode of Call to Glory, we'll pick up where we left off to look at the Hebrew prophets and what they saw and wrote about the kingdom of God, or if you prefer, the kingdom of heaven. This is where all of these promises to Israel began to crystallize and coalesce into a cohesive, glorious, and absolutely mind-boggling vision of God's ultimate plan to redeem and restore not only mankind, but the entire creation. The Hebrew prophets foretold that God would indeed fulfill his promises to Israel of a perpetual priesthood and a righteous king who would not only deliver the Jewish people from their enemies, but also execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. And as we'll see, they further expanded the vision of the kingdom not only to the millennium, but also into eternity with the promise of a new heaven and new earth. This is the gospel or good news of the kingdom. So the gospel of the kingdom is the good news announced to the nation of Israel by Christ and John the Baptist that all of these wonderful promises were finally coming to pass. You cannot ever separate Christ from the promises that God not only made to Abraham, King David, the nation of Israel, and his Jewish brethren, but above all to him. And with that, let's turn back to the Hebrew prophets. The sheer volume, scope, and nature of prophecies and promises of the kingdom in the book of Isaiah alone are staggering. While a comprehensive study of the kingdom is well beyond the scope of this podcast, our goal is to encourage and inspire you to look deeper into the gospel of the kingdom as it is actually proclaimed and understood in the Scriptures. So let's start with chapter two, which contains one of the most well known passages in all of Scripture from the New King James. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 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 plough shares and their spears into pluning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Now the throne and kingdom of David are at the heart of the following well known prophecy of Isaiah nine, which Christians universally agree is having been fulfilled by Christ. Let's read. For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Now turning to chapter eleven, we see yet another glorious vision of the coming Messianic kingdom. In summary, the seven spirits of the Lord will rest upon the king. His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees and hears, but rather will judge the poor and meek of the earth with righteousness and equity. He will slay the wicked with the rod of his mouth and the breath of his lips. Now that sounds just a little bit like Second Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 19, I think. There will be peace among the animals and between them and mankind. No one will hurt or destroy in God's holy mountain. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. The nations will inquire of the root of Jesse, and more about this in our upcoming episode on the Gospel of Christ. And the Lord will regather the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Moving ahead to chapter twenty five we read, He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. And then in chapter thirty five, we see that the wilderness, wastelands, and deserts will come alive and blossom abundantly, that the people of the earth will see the glory and majesty of God, that he will bring deliverance to Israel with vengeance and recompense. The blind, deaf, lame, and mute will find healing, which by the way was one of the key aspects of the true Jewish Messiah, as we'll see in our upcoming episode on the Gospel of Christ. And sorrow and sighing will flee away to be replaced with restoration, singing, and everlasting joy in Zion. And this continues in chapter fifty-one, where Isaiah proclaims that God will restore Zion and make her wasteplaces like the garden of the Lord. Thanksgiving and the voice of song will be found in Zion, and his righteousness will be forever, and his salvation from generation to generation. And when we get to Isaiah 60, God's kingdom promises to the nation of Israel a blessing, wealth, rulership, and blessing to the rest of the world come front and center. Let's look at some of these famous passages beginning at verse one. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people. But the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around and see, they all gather together, they come to you, your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. As if this weren't enough, Isaiah further prophesied that foreigners will build up Jerusalem's walls, her gates will be opened continually, and that any nation that refuses to serve her will perish. More about this in a future episode, so be sure to like, subscribe, and leave a comment below if that would be of interest. Now earlier we looked at the famous passage from chapter sixty one that Jesus quoted when he publicly announced his ministry. It's well known that he prophetically ended his announcement with the first part of verse seven to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, because the next phrase and the day of vengeance of our God was still future and would only be fulfilled with the arrival of the physical outward kingdom. Now that was and still is certainly wonderful news, but Isaiah also foretold that the people of Israel would be called oaks of righteousness, that they would rebuild and repair ruined cities, that they will eat the riches of the Gentiles, that strangers and foreigners will tend their flocks and work their land, and that they will be named priests of the Lord. Now it's unfortunate that many Christian teachers overlook, ignore, and even try to explain away these aspects of the coming kingdom. Those who hold a replacement theology generally teach that Israel forfeited replacement of the kingdom because the Jewish people rejected Christ as their Messiah. Well that's not quite the case, as many others have very capably shown. On the other hand, dispensationalist teachers generally have no problem with the promises that the people of Israel will be called oaks of righteousness, rebuild and repair ruined cities, and be named priests of the Lord, because they view those promises as pertaining to an earthly Jewish kingdom while the Gentile Church is somewhere up in heaven with Christ. Well, that's not quite correct either, as many others have also very capably shown. But the idea that the Jewish people will eat the riches of the Gentiles, and that strangers and foreigners will tend their flocks and wart their land? Well, brother, that's going too far. Really? What do you think Christ, the son of David, would say about that? Well, there's actually no need to guess or wonder about any of this. Everything that was foretold by the Hebrew prophets by the Word of God, which by the way, all Christians acknowledge that Christ is the Logos or Word of God, will come to pass. And if they're not true, neither is John 3.16. And if that's the case, you're still dead in your sins. You see, every single promise God made to the nation of Israel, including the promises that they will eat the riches of the Gentiles, and that strangers and foreigners will tend their flocks and work their land was and is part of the good news, the gospel of the kingdom that Christ, John the Baptist, and the apostles proclaimed. Now, while some of my Christian brothers and sisters may find it difficult to reconcile this with what you've been taught, the truth of the matter is that rather than change or nullify these promises to Israel, Christ affirmed them as part of the good news or gospel of his coming kingdom. We all have to decide and settle it forever whether we're going to believe the traditions of men or the word of God. Let God be true and every man a liar. But let's move on to the pinnacle of Isaiah's vision in chapters sixty five and sixty six. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind, but be glad and rejoice forever in what I create, for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble, for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. And finally in chapter sixty six, for I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and those among them who escape I will send to the nations, to Tarshish and Pool and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javon to the coastlands afar off who have not heard my fame, nor seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and litters, on mules and on camels, to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, says the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering and a clean vessel into the house of the Lord, and I will also take some of them for priests and Levites, says the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain, and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord. Note carefully how the Lord three times in the following passage from Jeremiah thirty three emphasizes the eternal nature of his covenant with David. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David, a branch of righteousness. He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely, and this is the name by which she will be called, the Lord, our righteousness. For thus says the Lord, David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the Lord, If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then my covenant may also be broken with David, my servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descent of David, my servant, and the Levites who minister to me. Jeremiah thirty three verses fourteen to twenty two. Now in the famous passage of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel thirty seven, we again see God's promise to restore the kingdom of Israel under the rulership of David's son. Let's look. David, my servant, shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob, my servant, where your fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children forever, and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. My tabernacle also shall be with them. Indeed, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever. The prophet Daniel was also given a vision of the kingdom and of Christ sitting on the throne of David. Let's look. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days, and they brought him nearer before him. 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. Whatever your theological persuasion, you have to acknowledge the absolute and striking consistency between all of these prophetic visions and promises, as we see again with the prophet Hosea, who also foretold the future restoration of Israel and the Davidic kingdom. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ethod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. As did the prophet Amos see something similar. On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages. I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who does this thing. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed. The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of my people Israel. They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them, they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will also plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them, says the Lord your God. By the way, this passage was quoted by James in Acts fifteen, when the apostles gathered at the Jerusalem Council to consider how to receive the Gentiles who are coming to faith in Christ. And now let's look at another very well known prophecy, this time by the prophet Micah. 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 peoples shall float to it. Many nations 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 the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, he shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But every one shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. In that day says the Lord, I will assemble I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted. I will make the lame a remnant and the outcast a strong nation. So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever. Now let's look at Zechariah chapter eight. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the land of the east and from the land of the west. I will bring them back and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be my people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness. Thus says the Lord of Hosts. People shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities, the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord, and seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will go also. Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, in those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. And finally, let's look at Zachariah's prophecy in chapter fourteen concerning the day of the Lord and the millennial kingdom. Now it shall come to pass in that day that there shall be no light. The lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light, and in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea. In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day it shall be, the Lord is one, and his name one. Have you ever sung that wonderful praise song, He Shall Reign? Or Isaac Watts' beautiful hymn, Jesus Shall Reign? What about Handel's Messiah? And did you notice how living water shall flow from Jerusalem or Jerusalem? Now that is the coming kingdom. Now Zachariah went on to write, and it shall come to pass that every one who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall go up from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter, they will have no rain. They shall receive the plague which with with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And that day holiness to the Lord shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar yes every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone whose sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. Do you see how utterly different this is from the traditional Christian expectation of spending eternity doing no one quite knows what in heaven? This is a true vision of the kingdom. And I'm talking about the earthly kingdom over which Christ and the saints will rule and reign. It was these promises and prophecies among many, many others throughout the Hebrew scriptures that were deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of the Jewish people when John the Baptist and Christ began their public ministries. And it was these same promises that Christ and John the Baptist were referring to when they told the people of Israel to repent and believe the gospel or good news. So then the gospel of the kingdom was and is the good news that these promises were finally coming to pass. And make no mistake about it this is the only proper historical theological sociological cultural and eschatological context of the gospel or good tidings they both proclaimed. Totally, purely and unquestionably Jewish it was, still is and always will be the children's bread. In our next episode, we'll continue our study of the gospel of the kingdom by going back to where it all began in the New Testament. If this is your first time tuning in please be sure to like share comment subscribe and ring the bell so you can be notified whenever we post new episodes. If you like what you've heard today please also leave a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. Tell us what you loved about this episode, how it may have helped or encouraged you, or you can simply leave a comment about any other topics you'd love to hear us cover in the future. And finally remember to always keep your lamps trimmed, lit and full of oil. Show home and see you next time