Grace Thoughts
Crowns and Thrones: The Majesty of Our God (Part Six)
The kings of Israel and Judah wore crowns and sat on thrones. They had a similar appearance to the kings of many other nations of the ancient world. However, they had something that set them apart and that was the promise of the Almighty God that God would establish an everlasting Kingdom for Israel.
God promised King David in 2 Samuel 7 that He would establish the kingdom of David’s son and that his son would “build a house for My name.” This was in response to David’s desire to build a house for God. God said no to David’s desire to build a house for God, but God promised that his son would build it and Solomon did. God also promised David that He would establish the throne of his son’s kingdom “forever.” However, God’s promise was not just to Solomon who would become Israel’s king after David. God told David — “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”
This raises an important question in light of what we saw in our last study. Solomon was the last king of a unified Israel and both of divided kingdoms (Judah and Israel) were eventually defeated. The 19 kings of Judah were from David’s lineage through Solomon, but the kingdom ended when the Babylonians defeated them. The 19 kings of Israel were not from David’s lineage and that kingdom ended when the Assyrians defeated them. What happened to God’s promise to David that his house and kingdom would be “established forever before you”? How could David’s throne be “established forever” when no king from David’s lineage ruled after 586 BC? We know that God does not lie and knows the end from the beginning, so what did He mean by His promise to establish David’s house, kingdom and throne forever?
David’s Lord, King and Priest
King David wrote a psalm (song) that will help us. Though David was Israel’s king, David also had a Lord who would rule the world in the future from David’s throne. However, this Lord King would be more than a conquering, judging Sovereign. He would also be a Priest of the highest order.
The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head.
Psalm 110
As we look through the list of kings of Israel, including the kings of the divided kingdom of Judah, who was David talking about in his Psalm? None of them fit the description David gave of a king who was also a priest “forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
In order to identify David’s Lord, King and Priest, we need to read through the rest of the Bible until we get to the New Testament Gospels. It is there that we meet the King of an everlasting Kingdom. His name is Jesus.
Psalm 110 is known as a Messianic Psalm, meaning it’s prophetic of Israel’s Messiah (Anointed One, Savior, Deliverer). The Lord (Yahweh – God, Jehovah) said (nə’um – utterance, declaration – used for Divine utterances in the Old Testament) to “my Lord” (laḏōnî – Lord, Master), “Sit” (šêḇ – remain, dwell) “at My right hand” (lîmînî – at my right). For Yahweh to make a declaration to someone to “sit at my right hand” is an invitation to share God’s throne and wear a ruling crown. “Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” is a further declaration of Yahweh that Messiah will have total subjugation of His enemies.
Jesus referred to Psalm 110 a thousand years later when He asked the Pharisees this question:
“What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The Son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?’ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.
Matthew 22:42-46
Jesus was speaking of Himself. He was the Son of David. Here’s what the angel Gabriel said to Mary the mother of Jesus:
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Luke 1:31-33
Many people who saw Jesus during His earthly ministry recognized that He was the prophesied Messiah of Psalm 110. Jesus never corrected them because they were right about His identity.
Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Luke 18:35-43
Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!’ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’ So the multitudes said, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee … Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant and said to Him, ‘Do You hear what these are saying?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?
Matthew 21:9-11, 14-16
It’s interesting to note that the blind and lame and ordinary citizens of Israel recognized that Jesus was the prophesied Son of David, but the religious leaders of Israel did not. They were spiritually blind and lame.
The language of Psalm 110 is a powerful statement of the future rule of Christ from the throne of David. The prophesy was that Christ will sit on the right hand of Yahweh “Till” (‘aḏ – until, up to, as far as) Yahweh made Christ’s enemies “Your footstool” (ləraḡleḵā – your foot).
Yahweh would then “send the rod” of Messiah’s strength “out of Zion” (miṣṣîyōwn – Jerusalem mountain). That would mean Christ’s reign would move to the earth, specifically from the re-established throne of David in Jerusalem. The people of Israel would follow Christ willingly (“Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power“) The word “volunteers” is nəḏāḇōṯ and means ” volunteer freely, freewill offering”. Christ would would rule with the full authority of Yahweh (“The Lord is at Your right hand”) and would execute conquered kings and the heads of many countries. He would “judge among the nations” and “fill the places with dead bodies.” Christ would also serve as the high priest of Israel forever “According to the order of Melchizedek.”
We see David’s prophecy in Psalm 110 detailed in John’s vision in Revelation 19:
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.’ And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Revelation 19:11-21
Next Time
We will conclude our special series in the next part of Crowns and Thrones: The Majesty of Our God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts