VIII. The United Kingdom
Scripture: 1Samuel8 - 1Kings 11; paralleled in 1Chronicles 10 - 2Chronicles 9 Historical Era: from Samuel to Solomon [ca. 1051-931 B.C.] Roots of the "Earthly Kingdom" NotionTo understand the "Kingdom of God" issue, we need to begin with some basics.
(1) The "kingdom of God" does NOT refer to God becoming something (like "king") at some point in human history that He was not prior to that time. The Lord's throne is in heaven (Isaiah 66:1,2) and He has always reigned as king over His creation (Psalm 10:16; 29:10; 47:2; 95:3; Daniel 4:26,27; Romans 13:1-7).
(2) The first mention of God's "kingdom" plans for Israel reveal that He wanted Israel to be a "spiritual" kingdom - holy and priestly in nature (Exodus 19:5,6). This is what He has finally accomplished in the Church (1Peter 2:9,10).
(3) When foretold in reference to Israel's future existence in Canaan, Moses wrote that Israel's "earthly kingdom" would be their idea ("and you say, . .") which would be requested after they were settled in Canaan. Limits were placed on it ahead of time (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
(4) After defeating the Midianites, Gideon was asked to set up a dynasty in Israel. He refused on the basis that, according to his understanding, Israel already had a heavenly king and he wanted no part of it - YHWH! (Judges 8:22,23)
(5) Later, when his boys were not following his spiritual example, Samuel was approached about giving Israel an earthly monarchy so they could be "like all the nations" (1Samuel 8:1-5). This was immediately labeled by God as an evil, rebellious, and worldly-minded request (1Samuel 8:6-22; 10:19; 12:12-25). After a warning, God allowed them to have such a kingdom so that they might learn the hard way about the superiority of God's spiritual kingdom.
(6) God has worked to redeem man so that they may join Him in glory, but there has been a long stream of "earthly-minded" kingdom-seekers who are infatuated with an earthly Messianic monarchy as God's desire, intention, and unfulfilled promise to Israel (Philippians 3:18,19). The nation that God had called to be His own special/different people chose to copy the ways of the world instead! Saul's Reign [1 Sam.9-31/1Chr.8:33-10:14; 1050-1010 B.C.](1) God's Spirit tried to guide Saul into both spiritual (1Samuel 10:5-13) and military leadership (1Samuel 11). While people tend to judge by outward/appearance qualities (1Samuel 9:2), God also sees the heart and mind (1Samuel 16:7; 1Chronicles 28:9). (2) On two crucial occasions, Saul crossed the limits to "do his own thing" and lost his kingdom (1Samuel 13:8-14; 15:1-35). An important principle - obedience to God's revealed will is better than religious substitutes invented by men (1Samuel 15:22,23). (3) Saul degenerated spiritually/emotionally, tried to kill David (1Samuel 19:1), and turned to spiritualism for aid (1Samuel 28) (4) Without God's blessing, Saul died in battle against the Philistines (1Samuel 31) David's Reign [1 Sam.16-30; 2 Sam.1-1Kgs.2; par.1Chr.11-29; ca. 1010-970 B.C.](1) David was selected by God and anointed because of his heart (1Samuel 15:28; 16:1,7,13) and noble qualities (16:18); his music soothed Saul (16:14-23); he killed Goliath (1Samuel 17); was close to Saul's son, Jonathon (1Samuel 18:1; 19; 20); and avoided Saul's attempts to kill him (1Samuel 20:30-27:12). After being anointed by Samuel and being Israel's legitimate king in God's eyes, David refused to kill Saul (or encourage anyone else to do so) as he understood what a dangerous precedent for it would set to assassinate rulers so that the next could take over (1Samuel 24; 26; 2Samuel 1:1-16). (2) David reigned 7 1/2 years in Hebron over Judah (2Samuel 2-4) and 33 years in Jerusalem over all Israel (2Samuel 5:1-5). He was eventually accepted by the northern 10 tribes because their elders knew that God had chosen him, David had been Israel's real leader for some time, and that David was what God intended kings to be - loving shepherds rather than selfish tyrants (2Samuel 5:1-2; 1Kings 12:7; Matthew 20:25-28; 23:1-12). (3) David's great military successes are recounted (2Samuel 5;8;10;12:26-31) (4) David was barred from building the temple (2Samuel 7:1-7) because of his role as a warrior, but he was given dynastic/Messianic promises (2Samuel 7:8-29). Thus, David becomes the final predicted marker for the Messiah's lineage - Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-10) through the family of David (2Samuel 7:8,16). (5) David's great personal sin with Bathsheba, adultery & murder (2Samuel 11-12) was punished with family turmoil (2Samuel 12:9-15; 13; 14) (6) David's son Absalom conspired to capture the throne and the rebellion was so successful that David had to leave Jerusalem for awhile (2Samuel 15-18) (7) David, beginning to trust in worldly power, had Israel "numbered" (2Samuel 24) (8) David's son Adonijah conspired to capture the throne (1Kings 1) (9) David made preparations for the temple (1Chronicles 28; 29) Solomon's Reign [1Kgs.1-11; 1Chr.23-2Chr.9; 970-930 B.C.]1Kings 1-2/ Solomon was hastily anointed king and several enemies were eliminated
1Kings 11/ Solomon's later reign displayed foolishness, disobedience, polygamy and God's wrath. Solomon established the idolatry that plagued the southern kingdom until its exile to Babylon.
The "earthly kingdom" was man's idea and it was a disaster. It was far from the perfect spiritual reign of the invisible God in the hearts of loyal people (Judges 8:22,23; Psalm 2:6; 5:2; 44:4; 68:24; 74:12; 84:3; 145:1), which has always been God's desire! The faithful continued to look for the appearance of Messiah until Jesus visited God's people (Matthew 1:23; 2:1,2; 12:28; 28:18; Mark 1:15; 9:1; John 1:45; Colossians 1:13,14; Romans 14:17). The true people of God do not desire an earthly kingdom, but seek a heavenly one (Philippians 3:18-21; Colossians 3:1-4; Galatians 4:21-31; Hebrews 11:10,13-16; 12:22-24; 13:14; Revelation 21&22).
*Later in the New Testament Scriptures we will find fuller development of the "kingdom" question: {1} Jesus claimed that His first coming marked the time for the promised kingdom's establishment (Mark 1:14,15) and that it would arrive with power within the lifetime of those who saw and heard Him (Mark 9:1); {2} when accused of casting out demons by Satanic power, He countered that this was poor logic and that if He was acting by the power of God's Spirit, then his actions were proof that God's rulership had already come upon them (Matthew 12:22-29); (3) when before Pilate, Jesus denied any intention of establishing an earthly kingdom that would threaten Rome's position in Palestine (John 18:36,37); {4} that the kingdom God can only be seen and entered by those submitting to a new and different spiritual re-birth (John 3:1-7) and is not an earthly/fleshly monarchy (1Corinthians 15:50-54); {5} Those who become Christians are already transferred into this spiritual kingdom (Colossians 1:13,14) and have transferred their spiritual citizenship to the heavenly capital (Philippians 3:20,21; Hebrews 12:18-24); {6} The book of Revelation asserts that Jesus' first coming established Him as ruler of the earth's kings and that He had made Christians into a priestly kingdom (Revelation 1:5,6), with John and his readers already participating in "the tribulation and kingdom" when John wrote this book (Revelation 1:9). Unless otherwise noted, all material produced by Charles E. McCoy All Scripture citations/quotations from the New American Standard Bible To send a question to Chuck: chuck@severnchristian.org
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1Kings 3-10/ His early reign
demonstrated wisdom, wealth, and God's presence. Choosing wisdom in order to
serve God's purposes "pleases God" (1Kings 3:8-10; cf. James 1:5).
