The Kingdom of God
In exploring the total teaching of Daniel 2, it seems wise to think about “The Kingdom of God.” Daniel sees God’s kingdom taking over the kingdoms of the world. “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people” (Dan 2:44).
In the Gospels, there is an anticipation that the kingdom of God is about to be inaugurated. Mark summarizes Jesus’ preaching this way: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). The apostles expected the Kingdom of God after Jesus’ resurrection: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
Before Pentecost, there is an anticipation that the Kingdom of God is about to be. “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power” (Mk 9:1). According to that statement, either:
- Jesus was woefully mistaken about the Kingdom.
- There are some men walking around over 2,000 years old!
- Or, the Kingdom has been established.
After Pentecost, the Kingdom is spoken of as existing. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col 1:13). “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 1:9).
There are reasons to see Pentecost as the beginning of the Kingdom.
“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).
While “Lord” is a divine title in the Old Testament, Israelites often referred to the king as “my lord.” “Christ” means “Anointed One.” Kings were anointed in the Old Testament. Kings were even referred to as the “anointed one” (cf. 1 Sam 24:6). The Greek Old Testament has “Christ” for “anointed one” at 1 Samuel 24:6.
While the terms “Lord” and “Christ” mean much more, it is certainly possible that the terms have at least some connotation to the idea of Jesus’ being a King. One cannot be a king without a kingdom.
The language Peter uses at Pentecost makes clear that Jesus is now King and reigning.
“God raised [Jesus] up” (Acts 2:24). While Peter may refer simply to Jesus’ resurrection, elsewhere in his sermon he uses the same language to refer to Jesus’ exaltation. “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:33).
Peter also says that Pentecost is proof that Jesus is on David’s throne: “Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:30-31).
Many Scriptures teach that Jesus is now reigning. “When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet” (Heb 10:12-13). “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15:25-26). After death has been destroyed, “then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (1 Cor 15:24).
But, Jesus cannot reign from Jerusalem. “Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know? O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD: ‘Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah'” (Jer 25:28-30).
Coniah appears in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. “And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel” (Matt 1:12). It is obvious that Coniah and Jechnoiah is the same person. In Jeremiah 25:24, King Coniah is given as the son of Jehoiakim. In 2 Kings 24:6, King Jechoniah is given as the son of Jehoiakim.
This Bible class lesson was originally taught by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at the Alum Creek church of Christ in Alum Creek, West Virginia.