Jesus Gets the Throne of King David
Undoubtedly the term “the throne” means the rulership in the Davidic line and which kingship was entirely on earth as a government just as in the prophecies of the future Messiah because: “The government will rest on his shoulders…On the throne of David and over his kingdom” (Isa. 9:6, 7 NASB) and “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations...” (Matt. 25:31). So, Jesus is here prophesied to reign on David’s throne, which no Jew of the time would have imagined to be anywhere but on earth (Luke 1:32, 33). This totally excludes any thought of a Kingdom in heaven as further shown in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia 1986 edition which notes that:
The coming of God’s kingdom is an eschatological event when the kingly reign of God...will be manifested on earth de facto, so that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. This means two things: negatively, the judgement of the wicked and the subjugation of every hostile power: positively, the salvation of the righteous and the redemption of a fallen creation from the burden of evil.
Literal Jerusalem of the Future Will Be the Capital City of the Kingdom
The fact is that we are to connect the arrival of the Kingdom and the future return of Jesus to literal Jerusalem just as when Jesus:
“…proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas… When he returned, having received the kingdom…”” (Luke 19:11-12, 15).
This capital city of the Kingdom is to be Jerusalem because, “Abraham...was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God ... they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:8-10, 16). So, when Jesus returns, then, “they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it…” (Jer. 3:17). All of this clearly shows that the beloved city heavenly Jerusalem will be on earth at the end of the Millennium. In confirmation of this Justin Martyr in his Dialog with Trypho said:
But I and others who are right-minded Christians on all points are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, and others declare ... And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the Apostles of Christ, who prophesied by a revelation that was made to him that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general and eternal resurrection of all men would take place.
The Kingdom Brings Regeneration of the World
As people daily see so many terrible things happening in the world, especially with its morals, it becomes more and more evident that something is very wrong with the way the world runs, and that current governments fail to bring peace and stability to the world—some even making things worse. The Bible gives the only answer that makes good sense. It shows that there is “a god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4) who is further described as the Satan—the Adversary. He is the one who encouraged Adam and Eve to sin which is what makes for all the trouble that exists in the world today. The solution is God’s Kingdom headed by Messiah Jesus to bring about the removal of the Satan and his agents and to renew the world. Jesus spoke to his disciples exactly of this New World, saying:
“In the regeneration (Gk palingenesia), when the Son of Man will sit down on his glorious throne...”
(Matt. 19:28).
Here, the ESV renders the term “the regeneration” as, “in the new world,” NLT as, “when the world is made new,” and Barclay as, “at the rebirth of the world,” thereby demonstrating the fact that improving conditions will begin to exist very soon after the kingdom is established. The regeneration of the whole world is synonymous with the Greek phrase apokatastasis panton meaning “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). This process begins when Jesus returns and establishes the kingdom:
“...that he [God] may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things (apokatastasis panton) about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time” (Acts 3:20, 21).
This is not the restoration only of true worship, as some propose, but of the restoration of “things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old time” involving humanity in general and resulting in “the new skies and new land” a composite phrase for a New World (Isa. 65:17-25; 2 Peter 3:13). It is as when God says, “I will make all things new” (Rev 21:5). So shortly after Jesus returns, this restoration will begin. Furthermore, it is logical that, after the establishment of the Kingdom and after dealing with his primary enemies of God’s Kingdom, Jesus would immediately bring into effect the processes to improve conditions in the world—for example world disarmament (Isa. 2:1-4). There would be no need for any decades’ long gap!
SUMMARY
Under the heading The Kingdom of God, Eduard Schweizer explains that:
When Jesus proclaims that the Kingdom of God is near, he is adopting a concept which was coined in the OT. Although it denotes God’s sovereignty over creation (Ps 103:19; 145:11ff.) it refers primarily to God’s unchallenged sovereignty in the end time (Isa 52:7)…Judaism spoke of the reign of God which comes after the annihilation of every foe and the end of all suffering…. In the NT the Kingdom of God is conceived first of all as something in the future (Mark 9:1, 47, 14:25; Matt. 13:41-43; 20:21; Luke 22:16, 18 I Cor 15:50. et al) which comes from God (Mark 9:1; Matt. 6:10; Luke 17:20; 19:11). Therefore it is something man can only wait for (Mark 15:43), seek (Matt. 6:33); receive (Mark 10:15; cp Luke 12:32) and inherit (I Cor 6:9f; Gal 5:21; James 2:5), but is not able to create it by himself …. Repentance is nothing less than a whole-hearted commitment to the Good News. Good News According to Mark, pp. 45, 47.
Now we will look at some of the major details concerning what life will be like in God’s kingdom.
Major Future Accomplishments of the Coming Kingdom
The Millennial Phase of the Eternal Kingdom—
a Transitional “New Heavens and New Earth”
In the penultimate vision given to John and expressed in the Book of Revelation, it is revealed to him that there will be a one-thousand-year period that will be a transitional phase toward God’s full accomplishing of His purpose for mankind and the earth. This is when Jesus as King of God’s Kingdom will accomplish the following dramatic improvements:
THE REMOVAL OF SATAN’S INFLUENCE
“…an angel seized…Satan...and bound him for a thousand years...they [Christians of the first resurrection] came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:1, 2, 4).
THE END OF NATIONAL WARS
“And it shall happen in the future of the days the mountain of the house of Yahweh shall be established; it will be among the highest of the mountains, and it shall be raised from the hills. All of the nations shall travel to him; many peoples shall come. And they shall say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, and may he teach us part of his ways, and let us walk in his paths.” For instruction shall go out from Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and he shall arbitrate for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation shall not lift up a sword against a nation, and they shall not learn war again” (Isa. 2:2-4). This is also shown by the parallel account in Micah 4:1, 4.
EXTRAORDINARILY LONG LIVES FOR THE MORTAL POPULATION
“New Heavens and New Earth ... I create Jerusalem for rejoicing (the capital of the kingdom will be on earth) ... no longer the voice of weeping ... no longer an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days (natural death of mortals at very old ages still occurs in this quasi paradise); for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought of as accursed. They will build houses, plant vineyards...for as the lifetime of a tree so will be the days of my people” (Isa. 65:17-25 NASB).
This phase of the Kingdom results in near paradise conditions of peace, joy, and abundance, so that in Isaiah 11, the peace among all peoples is pictured by predators and prey in the animal world as being reconciled and living in harmony. Isaiah’s picture shows that:
“a wolf shall stay with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with a kid, and a calf and a lion and a fatling together as a small boy leads them. And a cow and a bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together. And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle. And an infant {the utterly helpless} shall play over a serpent’s {poisonous} hole, and a toddler shall put his hand on a viper’s hole. They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:6-9 LEB).
The fact that all this happens because of “fully knowing Yahweh” indicates that it applies to human predators and prey rather than to the literal animals, although that is a likely secondary meaning. Such a change of nature of these predators is pictorial of a Garden of Eden restored, but not limited to that original geographical area. It will be a world-wide utopia. Indeed, the Psalms, in particular point to such peaceful conditions of abundance because, “…the wicked one will be no more” (Ps. 37:10) and “…the righteous will sprout, and abundance of peace” (Ps. 72:7) with plenty for everyone because there will be, “…plenty of grain” (Ps. 72:16) as meaning plenty of all necessary resources. Isaiah completes our picture of abundance showing that: “on this mountain Yahweh of hosts will make for all peoples a rich feast [banquet], a feast of aged wines, fat filled with marrow, filtered aged wine” (Isa. 25:6). Along with these wonderful conditions we can expect to see miracles occurring everywhere for at least a period of time. Just as miracles of healing occurred when Jesus originally walked the earth, so, too, we can expect these as being done to help the mortal population. However, as glorious as all of this is, the Kingdom paradise in its absolute fullest form comes after the second resurrection and judgment sometime after the Millennium when there will be no more death of any of humankind. (Rev. 20-22).
But how will all of the millions of those who have died over the centuries be able to enjoy all of the wonders of God’s Kingdom. Indeed, it will be by means of the resurrection—a subject that we will examine next.
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